CHAf\LOTTE 
M.YONCE,. 


l^\:. 


POPULAR 


History  of  Germany 


BY 


CHARLOTTE    M.   YONGE 

AUTHOR  OF  "the  HEIR  OF  REDCLYPFE,"  "BOOK  OF 
GOLDEN  DEEDS,"  ETC. 


BOSTON 

ESTES    AND    LAURIAT 

priiLrsiiF.Rs 


Copyright  by 

D.  LoTiiROP  &  Company. 

1S78. 


PREFACE. 

'T^HERE  is  here  an  endeavor  to  sketch  the  main 
outlines  of  the  history  of  the  German  Em- 
pire, though  the  number  of  states-  each  with  a 
separate  history,  makes  it  difficult  to  trace  the  line 
clearly.  The  names  are,  for  the  most  part,  given 
in  their  German  form,  rather  than  by  their  English 
equivalents. 

CHARLOTTE  M.  YONGE. 

ElDEBFIELD,   OTTEBBOXJIiN. 


2229049 


CONTENTS, 


Chapter. 

1. — The  Ancient  Germans    . 
2.— Valhall 

3. — The  Germans  and  Romans. 
4. — The  Nibelonig  Heroes 
5.— The  Franks.    496—765     . 
6.— Karl  the  Great.     768—814 


7.— Ludwig  I.,  the  Pious.     814—840 
Loth  air  I.     840—855. 
Ludwig  II.     855 — 875   . 
Karl  II.,  the  Bald.     875—876 
Karloman.     876—880 
Karl  III.,  the  Tliick.     880— «87 
Ariuilf.     887—899 
Ludwig  IV.,  the  Child.    899—012 

8.— Konrad  I.     912—917 
Heiurich  I.     917—936 
Otto  I.,  the  Great.     936—973 

9. — The  Saxon  Emperors  — 

Otto  II.,  the  Red.     07:3—983 
Otto  III.,  the  Wonder.     983—1000 
St.  Heinricli  IL     1000—1024    . 

V. 


B.C.  60— A.D.  400 


Pag«. 
13 
21 
30 
40 
47 
60 


73 


83 


93 


n 


Contents. 


\0. — The  Franconian  Line  — 

Koniad  II.,  the  Salic.     1024—1039 
Heinrich  III.    1039—1054 
Heinrich  IV.     1054—1106 
Heinrich  V.    1106—1114 

-Lothar  II.     1125—1137 
Kourad  UI.     1137—1152 

-Friedrichl,,  Barbarossa.    1157—1178 

-Friedrich  I.,  Barbarossa  (continued). 

Heiurich  VI.    1189—1197 


11. 


12. 
13. 


1174—1 


14.— 


•Philip.     1198—1208 
Otto  IV.     1209—1218 


15.— Friedrich  11.     1218 
16 

17 


Friedrich  II.  (continued).    1250 
Koiuad  IV.     1250—1254 
Wilhelin.     1254—1256 
Kichard.     1256—1257 

18.— Eodolf.     1278.     . 
19.— Adolf.     1291—1298 
Albrecht.     1298 

20.— Heinrich  VII.     1308—1313 
Ludwig  V.     1313—1347 

21.— Gunther.     1347—1347 
Karl  IV.    1347—1378 

22.— Wenzel.     1378—1400 

23.— Kuprecht.     1400—1410. 
Jobst.     1410—1410 
Siegmund.    1411. 

24.— Albrecht  II.     1438—1440 
Friedrich  III.    1440—1482 

25.— Friedrich  IH.     1482—1493 
26.— Maximilian.     1493—1519 
27.— Charles  V.     1519—1529 
28.— Charles  V.     1530—1535 
29.— Charles  V.     1535 
30.— Ferdinand  I.     1556—1564 
31.— Maximilian  II.    1564 
32.— Rudolf  II.     1576—1612 
33.— Matthias.     1612—1619 
34.-   The  Eevolt  in  Bohemia  — 

Ferdinand  II.     1619—1621 


189 


i  116 

.  127 

}  140 

I  152 


.    329 


Contents. 


viL 


35.- 


-Gustaf  Adolf  and  Wallenstein  — 
Ferdinand  II.     1621—1634     . 


36.— Ferdinand  II.     1634—1637 
Ferdinand  III.    1637 

37. — The  Siege  of  Vienna  — 
Leopold  I.     1657—1687 

38. — War  of  the  Succession  — 
Leopold  I.     1635—1705 

39.— Joseph  I.     1705—1711 

40.— Karl  VI.     1711—1740 

41.— Karl  VIL     1740 

42.— Franz  I.     1745—1765      . 

43.— Joseph  n.     1765—1790  . 

44.— Leopold  11.     1790—1792 

45.— Franz  XL     1792 

46.— Franz  II.     1804—1806 

47. — French  Conquests  — 

Interregnum.     1807—1815 

48.— Interregnum.     1815 — 1835 

49. — Interregnum.  1848 

60.— Wilhelm  I.    1870—1877 


.  337 

[  349 

.  358 

.  366 

.  377 

.  384 

.  392 

.  401 

.  412 

.  423 

.  429 

.  435 

.  443 

.  456 

.  462 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Ancient  German  Village       .  -  - 

Sacrifice  to  Woden  .  -  .  . 

Volkyria  .  .  -  - 

The  Elves 

The  Velleda  warning  Drusus 
Germanicus  burying  the  Slain 
Brunhild's  Flight       -  -  -  - 

Battle  of  Tours 

St.  Boniface  felling  the  Oak 

Elarl  the  Great  and  Witikind 

Karl  the  Great  entering  St.  Peter's 

Karl  the  Great  in  his  School 

Haroun  al  Raschid's  Gifts 

Ludwig  the  Pious      .  -  -  - 

Odo  appealing  to  Karl  the  Fat 

The  Last  Tribute  of  the  Magyars    - 

Adelheid  Hiding  in  the  Corn 

Otto's  Flight  -  -        .  . 

Opening  the  Tomb  of  Karl  the  Great 

St.  Henry        .  .  .  .  . 

Heinrich  IV.  carried  off  -  - 

Peuance  of  Heinrich  IV. 

Lothar  II.  leading  the  Pope's  Horse 

The  Women  of  Weinsberg 

Friedrich  I.  refuses  the  Milanese  Submission 

Faithfulness  of  Sieveneichen 

iz. 


Pagb. 
li 

n 

23 

27 

31 

3? 

49 

53 

57 

61 

65 

67 

71 

74 

81 

85 

90 

95 

99 

102 

109 

113 

119 

123 

129 

133 


X.  List  of  Illustuations. 

PAGE. 

Friedrich  I.,  kneeling  to  Heinrich  the  Lion                 -  137 

The  Diet  at  Mainz                  -            -            -            -  -      143 

Richard  the  Lion  Heart  and  Heinrich  VL         -            -  147 
Heinrich  VL               ......       150 

Murder  of  Philip               _            .            _            .            _  155 

Otto  IV.  finds  his  Bride  dead           -            -            -  -      159 

Friedrich  II.  putting  on  the  Crown  of  Jerusalem        -  167 

Friedrich  II.  receiving  Isabel  of  England               -  -      175 

Execution  of  Conradin  and  Friedrich                -           -  189 
German  Castle            ..----      193 

Mediaeval  Costume                .            .           _           _  .      210 

Heinrich  VIL 213 

Adolf 215 

KarllV. 222 

Arnold  von  Winkelried                    -           -           -  -      227 

Wenzel 231 

Huss  at  Constance                 .           .           _           .  -      235 

Siegmund              .......  238 

AlbrechtlL                -           -           -       .     -           -  -      244 

Friedrich  III.        -            -                                    -            -  246 

Maximilian  and  Albert  Diiro/          .            .           _  -      255 

Maximilian            ...---  261 

Luther  and  his  Thesis          -           .           -           -  -      265 

Charles  Y. 271 

Luther  at  Wartburg              .           .           .           -  .      275 

Charles  V.  and  Fugger                _           .           .           _  285 

Flight  of  Charles  V.               -            -            .            -  -      293 

Charles  Y.  in  the  Cloister,  St.  Just       -           -           •  297 

Ferdinand  L 301 

Maximilian  II.            _           -           -           =           -  -      307 

Rudolf  and  Tycho  Brahe            -           =           -           -  315 
Matthias         .------      322 

Friedrich  V.          .--.--  327 


List  of  Illustbations. 


xi^ 


PAGE. 

Ferdinand  II.              -           -           .           - 

-          331 

Wildenstein  Castle           -           -           - 

- 

339 

Guslaf  Adolf               -            -            -           - 

-      342 

Death  of  Walleustein 

- 

345 

Benihard  of  Saxe  Weimar 

-      350 

Peace  of  "Westphalia 

- 

355 

Leopold  I.                .... 

- 

369 

Friedrich  I.  King  of  Prussia  (Coronation) 

-      369 

Marlborough  and  Eugene 

- 

373 

Joseph  I.          -            -            - 

-      379 

Karl  YI.                 .... 

- 

385 

Maria  Theresa            .... 

-      393 

KarlVIL                .... 

■ 

397 

The  Queen  of  Poland 

-      405 

Friedrich  the  Great  and  Zeithen 

- 

409 

Maria  Theresa  and  Kaunitz 

-      415 

Joseph  II.  holding  the  Plough 

- 

419 

Leopold  II.                  .... 

-      427 

Napoleon  and  Franz  II. 

- 

437 

Queen  Louise  pleading  with  Napoleon 

-      445 

Metternich  and  Napoleon 

- 

449 

The  Allies  entering  Paris 

-      453 

Wllheha  I 

. 

473 

\rOUNG  FOLKS'  HISTORY  OF  GEEMANY 


CHAPTER   I. 


THE   ANCIENT    GERMANS. 


'  I  ^HE  history  of  the  German  Empire  rightly 
-^  begins  with  Karl  the  Great,  but  to  under- 
stand it  properly  it  will  be  better  to  go  further  back, 
when  the  Romans  were  beginning  to  know  something 
about  the  wild  tribes  who  lived  to  the  north  of  Italy, 
and  to  the  coast  of  the  Gaulish  or  Keltic  lands. 

Almost  all  the  nations  in  Europe  seem  to  have 
come  out  of  the  north-west  of  Asia,  one  tribe 
after  another,  the  fiercest  driving  the  others  farther 
and  farther  to  the  westward  before  them.  Tribes 
of  Kelts  or  Gauls  had  come  first,  but,  though  they 
were  brave  and  fierce,  they  were  not  so  sturdy  as 
the  great  people  that  came  after  them,  and  were 
thus  driven  up  into  the  lands  bordering  on  the  At- 
lantic Ocean ;  while  the  tribes  that   came  behind 

them  spread  all  over  that  middle  part  of  Europe 

13 


14  Young  Folks'  History  of  Grermany, 

which  lies  between  the  Alps  and  the  Baltic  sea. 
These  tribes  all  called  themselves  Deutsche  which 
meant  the  people;  indeed,  most  of  them  dp  so  still, 
though  we  English  only  call  those  Dutch  who  live 
in  Holland.  Sometimes  they  were  called  Ger, 
War,  or  Spear-men,  just  as  the  Romans  were  called 
Quirites;  and  this  name.  Spear-men  or  Germans, 
has  come  to  be  the  usual  name  that  is  given  to  them 
together,  instead  of  Deutsch  as  they  call  themselves, 
and  from  which  the  fine  word  Teutonic  has  been 
formed. 

The  country  was  full  of  marshes  and  forests,  with 
ranges  of  hills  in  which  large  rivers  rose  and  strag- 
\  gled,   widening   down   to   their   swampy    mouths. 

Bears  and  wolves,  elks  and  buffaloes,  ran  wild,  and 
were  hunted  by  the  men  of  the  German  tribes. 
These  men  lived  in  villages  of  rude  huts,  surrounded 
by  lands  to  which  all  had  a  right  in  common,  and 
where  they  grew  their  corn  and  fed  their  cattle. 
Their  wives  were  much  more  respected  than  those 
of  other  nations ;  they  were  usually  strong,  brave 
women,  able  to  advise  their  husbands  and  to  aid 
them  in  the  fight ;  and  the  authority  of  fathers  and 
mothers  over  their  families  was  great.  The  men 
were  either  freemen  or  nobles,  and  they  had  slaves, 
generally   prisoners   or  the   people   of   conquered 


The  Ancient  Germans. 


15 


countries.  The  villages  were  formed  into  what 
were  called  hundreds,  over  which,  at  a  meeting  of 
the  freemen  from  all  of  them,  a  chief  was  elected 
from  among  the  nobles ;  and  many  of  the  tribes  had 
kings,  who  always  belonged  to  one  family,  descended, 
it  was  thought,  from  their  great  god  Woden. 


ANCIENT    GERMAN    VILLAGE. 

The  German  tribes  all  believe«i  in  the  great  god 
Woden,  his  brother  Yxey,  and  his  son  Thor,  who 
reigned  in  a  gorgeous  palace,  and  with  their  children 
were  called  the  Asa  gods.  Woden  was  all-wise,  and 
two  ravens  whispered  in  his  ear  all  that  passed  on 


16  Yoking  Folks'  History  of  Crermany, 

ttie  earth.  The  sun  and  moon  were  his  eyes.  The 
moon  is  so  dull  because  he  gave  the  sight  of  that 
eye  for  one  draught  of  the  well  of  wisdom  at  the 
foot  of  the  great  ash  tree  of  life.  He  was  a  fearful 
god,  who  had  stone  altars  on  desolate  heaths,  where 
sacrifices  of  men  and  women  were  offered  to  him, 
and  the  foiu'th  day  of  the  week  was  sacred  to 
him. 

Frey  was  gentler,  and  friendship,  faith,  and  free- 
dom were  all  sacred  to  him.  There  is  a  little  con- 
fusion as  to  whether  Friday  is  called  after  him  or 
Frigga,  Odin's  Avife,  to  whom  all  fair  things  be- 
longed, and  who  had  priestesses  among  the  German 
maidens.  Thor,  or,  as  some  tribes  called  him. 
Thunder,  was  the  bravest  and  most  awful  of  the 
gods,  and  was  armed  with  a  hammer  called  Miolner, 
or  the  Miller  or  Crusher.  Thunder  was  thought 
to  be  caused  by  his  swinging  it  through  the  air, 
and  the  mark  in  honor  of  him  was  |  ,  meant  to 
be  a  likeness  of  his  hammer.  It  was  signed  over 
boys  when  they  were  washed  with  water  imme- 
diately after  they  were  born ;  and  in  some  tribes 
they  were  laid  in  their  father's  shields,  and  had 
their  first  food  from  the  point  of  his  sword. 

These  three  were  always  the  most  honored  of  the 
Asa  gods,  though  some  tribes  preferred  one  and 


The  Ancient   Germans,  19 

some  the  other;  but  Woden  was  always  held  to  bt 
the  great  father  of  all,  and  there  were  almost  as 
many  stories  about  the  Asir  as  there  were  about  the 
Greek  gods,  though  we  cannot  be  sure  that  all  were 
known  to  all  the  tribes,  and  they  were  brought  to 
their  chief  fulness  in  the  branch  of  the  race  that 
dwelt  in  the  far  North,  and  who  became  Clu'istians 
much  later.  Some  beliefs,  however,  all  had  in  com- 
mon, and  we  may  understand  hints  about  the  old 
faith  of  the  other  tribes  by  the  more  complete 
northern  stories. 

There  was  a  great  notion  of  battle  going  tlirough 
everything.  The  Asa  gods  were  summer  gods,  and 
their  enemies  were  the  forces  of  cold  and  darkness, 
the  giants  who  lived  in  Jotenhemi,  the  land  of 
giants.  All  that  was  good  was  mixed  up  with  light 
and  summer  in  the  old  Deutsch  notions ;  all  that 
was  bad  with,  darkness  and  cold.  Baldur,  the  son 
of  Woden,  was  beautiful,  good,  and  glorious ;  but 
Loki,  the  chief  enemy,  longed  to  kill  him.  His 
mother,  Frigga,  went  round  and  made  every  crea- 
ture  and  plant  swear  never  to  hurt  Baldur,  but  she 
missed  one  plant,  the  mistletoe.  So  when  all  liia 
brothers  were  amusing  themselves  by  throwing 
things  at  Baldur,  knowing  they  could  not  hui"t  him, 
Loki  slyly  put  in  the  hand  of  his   blind  brother 


20  Younj  Folks    History  of  G-ermany. 

Hodur  a  branch  of  mistletoe  which  struck  him 
dead.  But  Frigga  so  wept  and  praj^ed  that  it  was 
decreed  that  Baldur  might  live  again  provided 
everytliing  would  weep  for  him;  and  everything 
accordingly  did  weep,  except  one  old  hag  who  sat 
under  a  tree,  and  would  shed  no  tears  for  Baldur, 
so  he  might  not  live,  only  he  was  given  back  to  his 
mother  for  half  the  year,  and  then  faded  and  van- 
ished again  fur  the  other  half.  But  Loki  had  his 
punishment,  for  he  was  chained  under  a  crag  Avith 
a  serpent  for  ever  dropping  venom  on  liis  brow, 
though  his  wife  was  always  catching  it  in  a  bowl, 
and  it  could  onl}^  fall  on  him  when  she  was  gone  to 
empty  the  bowl  at  the  stream. 

It  is  plain  that  Baldur  meant  the  leaves  and  trees 
of  summer,  and  that  the  weeping  of  everything  was 
the  melting  of  the  ice ;  but  there  was  mixed  into 
the  notion  something  nnich  higher  and  greater  re- 
specting the  struggle  between  good  and  evil. 


CHAPTER  11. 


VALHALL. 


THE  hall  of  Wodeu  was  called  Valhall,  *  and 
thither  were  thought  to  go  the  souls  of 
the  brave.  There  were  believed  to  be  maidens 
called  Valkyr,  or  the  choosers  of  the  slain  —  Hilda, 
Guda,  Truda,  Mista,  and  others  —  Avho  floated  on 
swan's  wings  over  the  camps  of  armies  before  a 
battle  and  chose  out  who  should  be  killed.  Nor 
was  such  a  death  accounted  a  disaster,  for  to  die 
bravely  was  the  only  way  to  the  Hall  of  Woden, 
where  the  valiant  enjoyed,  on  the  other  side  of  the 
rainbow  bridge,  the  delights  they  cared  for  most  in 
life  —  hunting  the  boar  all  day,  and  feasting  on  him 
all  night ;  ck-inking  mead  from  the  skulls  of  tlieu- 
conquered  enemies.  Shooting  stars  were  held  to  be 
the  track  of  weapons  carried  to  supply  the  fresh 

*Fa/ meant  a  brave  death  in  battle. 
21 


22  Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany, 

comers  into  Valhall.  Onl}^  by  dying  gallantly 
could  entrance  be  won  there ;  and  men  would  do 
anything  rather  than  not  die  thus,  rush  on  swords, 
leap  from  crags,  di-own  themselves,  and  the  like, 
for  they  believed  that  all  who  did  not  gain  an  en- 
trance to  the  Hall  of  the  Slain  became  the  prison- 
ers of  Loki's  pale  daughter  Hel,  and  had  to  live  on 
in  her  cold,  gloomy,  sunless  lands,  sharing  her 
bondage. 

For  once  Loki  and  his  children,  and  the  other 
Qy\\  beings  of  tlie  mist  land,  had  made  a  fierce  at- 
tack on  Woden,  and  had  all  been  beaten  and  bound. 
Fenris,  the  son  of  Loki,  was  a  terrible  wolf,  wlio 
was  made  prisoner  and  was  to  be  bound  by  a  chain ; 
but  he  would  onl}'^  stand  still  on  condition  that  Tyr 
or  Tiw,  the  son  of  Woden,  should  put  his  right 
hand  into  his  mouth  in  token  of  good  faith.  The 
moment  that  Fenris  found  that  he  was  chained,  he 
closed  his  jaws  and  bit  off  the  hand  of  Tiw,  whose 
image  therefore  only  had  one  hand,  and  who  is  the 
god  after  whom  Tuesday  is  named. 

Valhall  was  not,  however,  to  last  for  ever.  There 
was  to  come  a  terrible  time  called  the  Twilight  of 
the  Gods,  when  Loki  and  Fenris  would  burst  their 
chains  and  attack  the  Asa  gods;  Woden  would  be 
slain  by  Fenris ;  Thor  would  perish  in  the  flood  of 


Valhall  25 

poison  cast  forth  by  the  terrible  serpent  jNIidgard ; 
and  there  would  be  a  great  outburst  of  fire,  wliich 
would  burn  up  Valhall  and  all  within,  as  well  as 
the  powers  of  evil.  Only  two  of  the  gods,  Vidui' 
and  Wall,  were  to  survive,  and  these  would  make 
again  a  new  heaven  and  earth,  in  which  the  spirits 
of  gods  and  men  would  lead  a  new  and  more  glo- 
rious life. 

How  mucli  of  all  tliis  grew  up  later  and  was 
caught  from  Clu-istianity  we  cannot  tell ;  but  there 
is  reason  to  thu)k  that  much  of  it  was  believed,  and 
that  heartily,  making  the  German  nations  brave 
and  true,  and  helping  them  to  despise  death.  There 
were  temples  to  the  gods,  where  the  tliree  figures 
of  Woden,  Frey,  and  Thor  were  always  together  in 
rude  carving,  and  sometimes  with  rough  jewels  for 
eyes.  Woden  also  had  sacred  oaks,  and  the  great 
stone  altars  on  heaths,  raised  probably  by  an  earlier 
race,  were  sacred  to  him.  Sometimes  human  sacri- 
fices were  offered  there,  but  more  often  sacred 
horses,  for  liorses  were  the  most  sacred  of  their 
animals :  they  were  kept  in  honor  of  tlie  gods, 
augui'ies  were  drawn  from  their  neigliings,  and  at 
the  great  yearly  feasts  they  were  offered  in  sacri- 
fice, and  their  flesh  was  eaten. 

There  were  gods  of  the  waters,  Niord,  and  Egir, 


26  Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany, 

who  raised  the  great  Avave  as  the  tide  comes  in  at 
the  mouth  of  rivers ;  and  his  cruel  daughter  Rana, 
who  went  about  in  a  sea  chariot  causing  shipwrecks. 
Witches  called  upon  her  when  they  wanted  to  raise 
storms  and  drown  their  enemies  at  sea. 

One  old  German  stor}^  held  that  Tiw  *  was  tlie 
father  of  Man,  and  that  man's  three  sons  were  Ing, 
Isk,  and  Er,  the  fathers  of  the  chief  Deutsch  tribes. 
Isk  (or  Ash)  was  the  father  of  the  Franks  and 
Allemans ;  Ing,  of  the  Swedes,  Angles,  and  Saxons ; 
and  Er,  or  Erman,  of  a  tribe  called  by  the  Romans 
Herminiones.  This  same  Er  or  Erman  had  a  temple 
called  Eresburg,  with  a  marble  pillar  on  which  stood 
an  armed  warrior  holding  in  one  hand  a  banner 
bearing  a  rose,  in  the  other  a  pair  of  scales;  his 
£rest  was  a  cock ;  he  had  a  bear  on  his  breast,  and 
on  his  shield  was  a  lion  in  a  field  of  flowers.  A 
college  of  priests  lived  around ;  and  before  the  army 
went  out  to  battle,  they  galloped  round  and  round 
the  figure  in  full  armor,  brandishing  their  spears 
and  praying  for  victory ;  and  on  their  retiuii  they 
offered  up  in  sacrifice,  sometmies  their  prisoners, 
sometimes  cowards  Avho  had  fled  from  the  foe. 

The  image  was  called  Irmansul  — huI  meaning  a 
pillar ;  and  two  pillars  or  posts  were  the  great  token 
*  The  same  word  as  tlie  Greek  Zeus  and  Latin  Deus. 


Valhall. 


27 


of  home  and  settlement  to  the  German  nations. 
They  were  planted  at  the  gate  of  their  villages  and 
towns,  where  one  was  called  the  Ermansaiil,  the 
other  the  Rolandsaul.  And  when  a  family  were 
about  to  change  their  home,  the}'  uprooted  the  two 
wooden  pillars  of  their  own  house  and  took  them 
away.     If  they  went  by  sea,  they  thi-ew  then- pillars 


1 

1 

1 

1 

I 

1 

m 

\M 

m 

^l^^l 

^^^H 

1       M     ^ 

fl;' 

r/aH 

SI 

H 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^H 

Li] 

'11 

^M 

H| 

^k3 

^ 

kI 

« 

^m 

^^^^^^^^9^B 

■1 

I 

H 

lii£   i.LVE6. 

overboard,    and   fixed   themselves   wherever  these 
posts  were  cast  up. 

Dutch  fancy  filled  the  woods,  liills,  and  streams 
with   spirits.     There    were  "J^lves    throughout    the 


28  Young  Folks'  History  of  Crermany. 

woods  and  plains,  shadowy  creatnres  who  sported 
m  the  niglit  and  watched  over  human  beings  for 
o'ood  or  harm.  Tlie  Bergmen  dwelt  in  the  hills, 
keeping  guard  over  the  metals  and  jewels  hidden 
there,  and  forging  wonderful  swords  that  always 
struck  home,  and  were  sometmies  given  to  lucky 
mortals,  though  they  generally  served  for  the  fights 
in  Valhall;  and  the  waters  had  Necks  and  other 
spirits  dangerous  to  those  who  loitered  by  the 
water-side.  A  great  many  of  our  best  old  fairy  tales 
were  part  of  the  ancient  German  mythology,  and 
have  come  down  to  our  own  times  as  stories  told  by 
parents  to  their  children. 

There  were  German  women  who  acted  as  priest- 
esses to  Frigga,  or  Hertha,  tlie  Earth,  as  she  was 
often  called.  She  had  a  great  temple  in  Rugen,  an 
isle  in  the  Baltic  ;  her  image  was  brouglit  out  tlience 
at  certain  times,  in  a  chariot  drawn  by  white  lieifers, 
to  bless  the  people  and  be  washed  in  the  Baltic 
waters.  Orion's  belt  was  called  her  distaif,  and  the 
gossamer  marked  her  path  over  the  fields  when  she 
brought  summer  with  her. 

When  one  of  the  northern  tribes  was  going  to 
start  to  the  south  to  find  new  homes,  their  wives 
prayed  to  Frigga  to  give  them  good  speed.  She 
bade  them  stand  forth  the  next  morning  in  the  rismg 


ValhalL  29 

sun  with  their  long  hair  let  down  over  their  chins. 
"Who  are  these  long  beards?"  asked  Woden. 
"  Thou  hast  given  them  a  name,  so  thou  must  give 
them  the  victory,"  said  Frigga ;  and  henceforth  the 
tribes  were  called  Longbeards,  or  Lombards. 

Before  a  battle,  the  matrons  used  to  cast  lots  to 
guess  how  the  fortunes  of  the  day  woukl  go,  doing 
below  what  the  Valkyr  did  above.  Sometimes  a 
more  than  commonly  wise  woman  would  arise 
among  them,  and  she  was  called  the  Wala,  or 
VeUeda,  and  looked  up  to  and  obeyed  by  all. 


■n>3^^ 


CHAPTER   m. 

THE   GEKINIANS   AND   ROMAKS. 
B.C.  60— A.  D.  400. 

JUST  as  it  was  with  the  Britons  and  Gauls, 
the  first  we  know  of  the  Germans  was 
when  the  Romans  began  to  fight  with  them. 
When  Julius  Csesar  was  in  Gaul,  there  was  a  great 
chief  among  the  tribe  called  Schwaben  —  Suevi,  as 
the  Romans  made  it  —  called  Ehrfurst,*  or,  as  in 
Latin,  Ariovistus,  who  had  been  invited  into  Gaul 
to  settle  the  quarrels  of  two  tribes  of  Gauls  in  the 
north.  This  lie  did  by  conquering  them  both  ;  but 
they  then  begged  help  from  Caesar,  and  Ehrfurst 
was  beaten  by  the  Romans  and  driven  back. 
Csesar  then  crossed  the  Rhine  by  a  bridge  of  boats 
and  ravaged  the  country,  staying  there  for  eighteen 
days.     He  was  so  struck  with  the  bravery  of  the 

*  Honor  prince. 

90 


THE    VELLEDA    WARNING   DRUSUS. 


32  Young  Folks''  History  of  Germany. 

Germans  that  he  persuaded  their  young  men  to 
serve  in  his  legions,  where  they  were  very  useful ; 
but  they  also  learned  to  fight  in  the  Roman  fashion. 

Germany  was  let  alone  till  the  time  of  the  Em- 
peror Augustus,  when  his  step-son  Drusus  tried  to 
make  it  a  province  of  Rome,  and  built  fifty  for- 
tresses along  the  Rhine,  besides  cutting  a  canal  be- 
tween that  river  and  the  Yssel,  and  sailing  along 
the  coasts  of  the  North  sea.  He  three  times  en- 
tered Germany,  and  in  the  year  B.C.  9,  after  beating 
the  Marclmien,  was  just  going  to  cross  tne  Elbe, 
when  one  of  the  Velledas,  a  woman  of  great  stature, 
stood  before  the  army  and  said,  "  Thou  greedy  rob- 
ber! whither  wouldst  thou  go?  The  end  of  thy 
misdeeds  and  of  thy  life  is  at  hand."  The  Romans 
turned  back  dismayed ;  and  tliirty  days  later  Drusus 
was  killed  by  a  fall  from  his  horse. 

Drusus'  brother  Tiberius  went  on  with  the  at- 
tempt, and  gained  some  land,  while  other  tribes 
were  allies  of  Rome,  and  all  seemed  likely  to  be 
conquered,  when  Quinctilius  Varus,  a  Roman  who 
came  out  to  take  the  command,  began  to  deal  so 
rudely  and  harshly  with  the  Germans  that  a  young 
chief  named  Herman,  of  Arminius,  was  roused. 
He  had  secret  meetings  at  night  in  the  woods  with 
other  chiefs,  and  they  swore  to  be  faithful  to  one 


TJie  Crermans  and  Romans.  35 

mother  in  the  name  of  their  gods.  Wlien  all  was 
ready,  information  -was  given  to  Varns  that  a  tribe 
in  the  north  had  revolted.  He  would  not  listen  to 
Siegert  or  Segestes,  the  honest  German  who  ad- 
vised liim  to  be  cautious  and  to  keep  Herman  as  a 
hostage,  and  set  out  with  three  legions  to  put  it 
dowii ;  but  his  German  guides  led  him  into  the 
thickest  of  the  great  Teutoberg  forest,  and  the 
further  they  went  the  worse  tliis  grew.  Trunks  of 
trees  blocked  up  the  road,  darts  were  hurled  from 
behind  ti'ees,  and  when  at  last  an  open  space  was 
gained  after  three  days'  struggling  through  the 
wood,  a  huge  host  of  foes  was  drawn  uj)  there,  and 
in  the  dreadfxil  fight  that  followed  almost  every 
Roman  was  cut  off,  and  Varus  threw  himself  on  hia 
own  sword. 

Herman  married  the  daughter  of  Siegert,  and 
was  chief  on  the  Hartz  mountains,  aided  by  his  un- 
cle Ingomar ;  but  after  five  years,  A.D.  14,  the  Em- 
peror  Tiberius  sent  the  son  of  Drusus  —  Avho  was 
called  already,  from  liis  father's  successes,  German- 
icus  —  against  liim.  Some  of  the  Germans,  viewing 
Siegert  as  a  friend  of  Rome,  beset  his  village,  and 
were  going  to  burn  it,  when  Germanicus  came  in 
time  to  disperse  them  and  save  Siegert.  Thus- 
nelda,  the  wife  of  Herman,  was  with  her  father, 


36  Young  Folks'  History  of  Q-ermany. 

and  was  sent  off  as  a  prisoner  to  Rome  with  her 
baby ;  while  Germanicus  marched  into  the  Teuto 
berg  wood,  found  the  bones  of  the  army  of  Varus, 
and  burnt  them  on  a  funeral  pile,  making  a  speech 
calling  on  his  men  to  avenge  their  death.  But 
Herman's  horsemen  fell  on  him  and  defeated  him, 
and  if  the  Germans  had  not  been  so  eager  to  plun- 
der they  would  have  made  a  great  many  prisoners. 
They  drove  the  Romans  back  across  the  Rhine,  and 
the  next  year  were  ready  for  them,  and  had  a  tre- 
Inendous  battle  on  the  banks  of  the  Weser.  In 
this  the  Romans  prevailed,  and  Herman  liimself 
was  badly  wounded,  and  was  only  saved  by  the 
fleetness  of  his  horse.  However,  he  was  not 
daunted,  and  still  kept  in  the  woods  and  harassed 
the  Romans,  once  forcing  them  to  take  refuge  in 
their  ships. 

Tiberius  grew  jealous  of  the  love  the  army  bore 
to  Germanicus,  and  sent  for  him  to  return  to  Rome. 
Herman  thus  had  saved  his  country,  but  he  had 
come  to  expect  more  power  than  his  chiefs  thought 
liis  due,  and  he  was  slain  by  his  own  kinsmen,  a.d. 
19,  when  only  thirty-seven  years  old.  His  wife 
and  cliild  had  been  shown  in  Germanicus'  triumph, 
and  he  never  seems  to  have  seen  them  again.  It 
was  during  this  war  that  the  great  Roman  historian 


The   Germans  and  Romans.  87 

Tacitus  came  to  learn  the  habits  and  manners  of 
the  Germans,  and  was  so  struck  with  their  simple 
truth  and  bravery  that  he  A\Tote  an  account  of 
them,  which  seems  meant  as  an  example  for  the 
fallen  and  corrupt  Romans  of  his  time. 

There  were  no  more  attempts  to  conquer  Ger- 
many after  this ;  but  the  Germans,  in  the  year  69, 
helped  in  the  rising  of  a  Gaulish  chief  named 
Civilis  against  the  Romans,  and  a  Velleda  who 
liyed  in  a  lonely  tower  in  the  forests  near  the 
Lippe  encouraged  him.  He  prevailed  for  a  time, 
but  then  fell. 

The  Germans  remained  terrible  to  the  Romans 
for  many  years,  and  there  were  fights  all  along  the 
line  of  the  empire,  wliich  their  tribes  often  broke 
through;  but  notliing  very  remarkable  happened 
till  the  sixth  century,  when  there  was  a  movement 
and  change  of  place  among  them.  This  seems  to 
have  been  caused  by  the  Huns,  a  savage  tribe  of 
the  great  Slavonic  or  Tartar  stock  of  nations,  who 
came  from  the  East,  and  drove  the  Deutsch  nation, 
brave  as  they  were,  before  them  for  a  time. 

Then  it  was  that  the  Goths  came  over  the  Dan- 
ube, and,  dividing  into  the  Eastern  and  Western 
Goths,  sacked  Rome,  conquered  the  province  of 
Africa,  and  founded  two  kingdoms  in  Spain  and  in 


38  Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

Northern  Italy.  Their  great  king  Theuderick, 
who  reigned  at  Verona,  was  called  by  the  Germans 
Dietrich  of  Berne,  and  is  greatly  praised  and  hon- 
ored in  their  old  songs. 

Then  Vandals  followed  the  Goths,  and  took 
Africa  from  them ;  and  the  Lombards,  or  Long- 
beards,  after  the  death  of  Thenderick,  took  the  lands 
in  Northern  Italy  which  had  been  held  by  the 
Goths,  founded  a  Idngdom,  and  called  it  Lom- 
bardy.  The  Burgundians  (or  Burg  Castle  men) 
gained  the  south-east  part  of  Gaul  all  round  the 
banks  of  the  Rhone,  and  founded  a  kingdom  there ; 
and  the  Sachsen  (scex  or  axe  men)  settled  them- 
selves on  the  banks  of  the  Elbe,  whence  went  out 
bands  of  men  who  conquered  the  south  of  Britain. 
The  Franks  (free  men)  were,  in  the  meantime, 
coming  over  the  Rhine,  and  first  plundering  the 
north  of  Gaul,  then  settling  there.  All  the  west- 
ern half  of  the  Rojnan  Empire  was  overspread  by 
these  Deutsch  nations  from  the  shores  of  the  Baltic 
to  the  iMediterranean,  from  the  Atlantic  Ocean  to 
the  Carpatliian  Mountains;  and  instead  of  being 
conquered  by  the  Romans,  the  Deutsch  nations 
had  conquered  them. 

It  is  chiefly  with  the  Franks,  Sachsen,  Schwaben, 


The   Germans  and  Romans. 


39 


and  Germans  that  this  liistory  is  concerned ;  but 
before  going  any  further,  there  is  a  great  mytho- 
logical story  to  be  told,  which  all  believed  in  as 
truth. 


CHAPTER    IV.  ' 

i 

THE   NIBELONIG   HEROES. 

''  I  ^HERE  are  two  versions  of  this  strange 
-*-  ancient  stor}^  —  a  northern  one  made  in 
heathen  times,  a  German  one  in  Christian  days. 
According  to  tliis  one,  the  tliree  gods,  Woden, 
Loki,  and  Hamer,  came  down  to  a  river  in  Nibel- 
heim  —  the  land  of  mist  —  to  fish;  and  Loki  killed 
an  otter  and  skinned  it.  Now  this  otter  was  really 
a  dwarf  named  Ottur,  whose  home  was  on  the  river 
bank,  with  his  father  and  brothers,  Fafner  and 
Reginn,  and  who  used  to  take  the  form  of  the 
beast  when  he  wanted  to  catch  fish.  When  his 
brothers  saw  what  had  befallen  him,  they  demanded 
that  Loki  should,  as  the  price  of  his  blood,  fill  the 
otter's  skin  with  gold ;  and  this  Loki  did,  but  when 
he  gave  it,  he  laid  it  under  a  curse,  that  it  should 
do  no  good  to  its  owner. 

The  curse  soon  began  to  be  fulfilled,  for  Fafner 

40 


The  Nibelonig  Heroes,  41 

killed  his  father  to  gain  the  treasure,  and  then 
turned  himself  into  a  serpent  to  keep  watch  over 
it,  and  prevent  Reginn  from  getting  it.  But 
Reginn  had  a  pupil  who  was  so  strong  that  he 
used  to  catch  wild  lions  and  hang  them  by  the  tail 
over  the  wall  of  his  castle.  The  northern  people 
called  liim  Sigurd,  but  the  Germans  call  him  Sieg- 
fried,* and  say  that  his  father  was  the  king  of  the 
Netherlands,  and  that  he  was  a  hero  in  the  train  of 
Dietrich  of  Berne.  Reginn  persuaded  Siegfried  to 
attack  the  dragon  Fafner  and  kill  him,  after  which 
he  bade  the  champion  bathe  in  the  blood  and  eat 
the  heart.  The  bath  made  his  skin  so  hard  that 
nothing  could  hurt  him,  except  in  one  spot  between 
his  shoulders,  where  a  leaf  had  stuck  as  it  was 
blown  down  from  the  trees ;  and  the  heart  made  liim 
able  to  understand  the  voices  of  the  birds.  From 
their  song  Siegfried  found  out  that  Reginn  meant 
to  slay  him,  and  he  therefore  killed  Reginn  and 
himself  took  the  treasure,  in  which  he  found  a  tarn 
cap,  which  made  him  invisible  when  he  put  it  on. 
Serpents  were  called  worms  in  old  Deutsch,  and 
the  Germans  said  that  their  city  of  Wurms  was 
the  place  where  Siegfried  killed  the  dragon.  They 
called  him  Siegfried  the  Homy. 

•  Conqueriug  Peace. 


42  Young  Folks'  Sistory  of  G-ermany. 

Now  there  was  a  lady^  of  matchless  strength 
named  Brunhild;*  but  she  had  ojffended  Woden, 
who  touched  her  with  his  sleep-thorn,  so  that  she 
fell  into  a  charmed  sleep,  surrounded  with  a  hedge 
9f  flame.  Siegfried  heard  of  her,  broke  through 
the  circle  of  fire,  and  woke  the  lady,  winning  her 
heart  and  love  ;  but  he  had  then  to  leave  her  in 
her  castle  after  three  days  and  go  back  to  the  com- 
mon world,  carrying  her  ring  and  girdle  with  him. 
But  by  a  magic  drink,  as  one  story  says,  he  was 
thrown  into  a  sleep  in  which  he  lost  all  remem- 
brance of  Brunhild. 

The  great  song  of  Germany,  the  Nibelungen  lied^ 
begins  when  Cliriemhild,f  the  fair  daughter  of  the 
king  of  Burgundy,  had  a  dream  in  which  she  saw 
her  favorite  falcon  torn  to  pieces  by  two  eagles. 
Her  mother  told  her  that  this  meant  her  future  hus- 
band, upon  which  she  vowed  that  she  would  never 
marry.  Soon  after,  Siegfried  arrived  and  fell  in 
love  with  her ;  but  she  feared  to  accept  liim  because 
of  her  dream.  However,  the  fame  of  Brunhild's 
beauty  had  reached  the  court,  and  Chriemhild's 
brother  Gunther  wanted  to  wed  her.  She  would, 
however,  marry  no  one  who  could  not  overcome 
her  in  racing  and  leaping;  and  as  she  was  really 

*  Valkyr  of  the  Breastplate.  t  Valkyr  of  the  Hamlet 


The  Nihelonig  Heroes.  43 

one  of  the  Yalkyr,  Gunther  would  have  had  no 
chance  if  Siegfried,  still  forgetful  of  all  concerning 
Brunhild,  had  not  put  on  his  cap,  made  himself  in- 
visible, took  the  leap,  holding  Gunther  in  his  arms, 
and  drew  him  on  in  the  race  so  as  to  give  him  the 
victory. 

Then  Gunther  married  Brunhild,  and  Siegfried 
Chriemhild,  The  first  pair  reigned  in  Burgundy, 
the  second  at  Wurms,  and  all  went  well  for  ten 
years,  when  unhappily  there  was  a  great  quarrel 
between  the  two  ladies.  The  northern  song  says 
it  was  about  which  had  the  right  to  swim  furthest 
out  into  the  Rhine  ;  the  German,  that  it  was  which 
should  go  first  into  the  Cathedral.  BrunhUd  said 
that  Siegfried  was  only  Gunther's  vassal ;  on  which 
Chriemhild  returned  that  it  was  to  Siegfried,  and 
not  to  her  husband,  that  Brunhild  had  yielded,  and 
in  proof  showed  her  the  ring  and  girdle  that  he 
had  stolen  from  her. 

.  Brunhild  was  furiously  enraged,  and  was  deter- 
mined to  be  revenged.  She  took  council  "with 
Haghen,  her  husband's  uncle,  a  wise  and  far- 
traveled  man,  whom  every  one  thought  so  prudent 
that  he  was  the  very  person  whom  poor  Chriemliild 
consulted  on  her  side  as  to  the  way  of  saving  her 
husband.      He    had    ijever  loved    Siegfried,   and 


44  Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

when  his  niece  told  liim  there  was  only  one  spot 
where  her  husband  could  be  wounded,  he  bade  her 
sew  a  patch  on  his  garment  just  where  it  was,  that 
he  might  be  sure  to  know  where  to  guard  him. 
There  was  a  great  hunting  match  soon  after,  and 
Haghen  contrived  that  all  the  wine  should  be  left 
behind,  so  that  all  the  hunters  growing  tliirsty,  lay 
down  to  drink  at  the  stream,  and  thus  Siegfried 
left "  defenceless  the  spot  marked  by  liis  wife. 
There  he  was  instantly  stabbed  by  Haghen's  con- 
trivance. According  to  the  heathen  northern 
story,  Brunhild,  viewing  herself  as  his  true  ■wife, 
burnt  herself  on  a  pile  with  his  corpse  in  tlie  Nibe- 
lung.     She  had  only  repented  too  late. 

Chriemhild  knew  Haghen  was  the  murderer,  be- 
cause the  body  bled  at  his  touch ;  but  she  could 
not  hinder  him  from  taking  away  the  treasure  and 
hiding  it  in  a  cave  beneath  the  waters  of  the  Rhine. 
She  laid  up  a  vow  of  vengeance  against  liim,  but 
she  could  do  notliing  till  she  was  wooed  and  won 
by  Etzel  or  Atli,  king  of  the  Huns,  on  condition 
that  he  woidd  avenge  her  on  all  her  enemies.  For 
thirteen  years  she  bided  her  time,  and  then  she 
caused  her  husband  to  invite  Gunther  and  all  the 
other  Burgundians  to  a  great  feast  at  Etzelburg  in 
Hungary.     There  she  stirred  up  a  terrible  fight,  of 


The  Nihelonig  Heroes.  45 

which  the  Nihelungen  lied  describes  almost  every 
blow.  Dietrich  of  Berne  at  once  rushed  in  and 
took  King  Etzel  and  Queen  Chrienihild  to  a  place 
of  safety,  keeping  all  his  own  men  back  wliile  the 
fight  went  on  —  Folker,  the  mighty  fiddler  of  Bur- 
gundy, fiddling  wildly  till  he  too  joined  in  the  fray, 
and  then  Dietrich's  men  burst  in,  and  were  all 
killed  but  old  Sir  Hildebrand,  who,  on  liis  side, 
slew  the  mighty  fiddler,  so  that  of  all  the  Burgun- 
dians  only  Gunther  and  Haghen  were  left.  Diet- 
rich then  armed  liimself,  made  them  both  prison- 
ers, and  gave  them  up  to  Cliriemliild ;  but  in  her 
deadly  vengeance  she  killed  them  both ;  where- 
upon Hildebrand  slew  her  as  an  act  of  justice,  and, 
with  Etzel  and  Dietrich,  buried  the  dead. 

I  have  told  you  this  story  in  this  place  because 
two  real  personages,  Attila  the  Hun  and  Theude- 
rick  of  Verona,  come  into  it,  though  there  is  no 
doubt  that  the  story  was  much  older  than  their 
time,  and  that  they  were  worked  into  it  when  it 
was  sung  later.  It  shows  what  a  terrible  duty  all 
the  Deutsch  thought  vengeance  was.  There  are 
stories  in  the  north  going  on  with  the  history  of 
Siegfried's  children,  and  others  in  Germany  about 
Dietrich.  It  seems  he  had  once  had  to  do  Avith 
Chriemhild  in  her  youth,  for  she  had  a  garden  of 


46  Young  Folks'  History  of  G-ermany. 

roses  seven  miles  round,  guarded  by  twelve  cham- 
pions, and  the  hero  who  could  conquer  them  was 
to  receive  from  her  a  chaplet  of  roses  and  a  kiss. 
Dietrich,  Hildebrand,  and  ten  more  knights  beat 
,  her  champions,  and  took  the  crowns  of  roses,  but 
would  not  have  the  kisses,  because  they  thought 
Chriemhild  a  faithless  lady  ! 

In  real  truth,  Attila,  Idng  of  the  Huns,  lived 
fully  one  hmidred  years  before  the  great  Theude- 
rick  of  Verona. 


CHAPTER    V. 

THE   FRANKS. 
796-765. 

THE  most  famous  of  the  German  tribes  were 
the  Franks,  who  lived  on  the  banks  of  the 
Rhine,  and  were  in  two  divisions,  the  Salian,  so 
called  because  they  once  came  from  the  river  Yssel, 
and  Ripuarians,  so  called  from  ripUy  the  Latin  Avord 
for  the  bank  of  a  river. 

The  Franks  were  terrible  enemies  to  the  Romans 
in  the  north-6ast  corner  of  Gaul,  and  under  their 
King  Chlodio  won  a  great  many  of  the  fifty  for- 
tresses that  Drusus  had  built,  in  especial  Trier  and 
Koln,  as  they  shortened  the  old  name  of  Colonia,  a 
colony.  Chlodio  only  joined  with  the  Romans  to 
fight  against  that  dreadful  enemy  of  them  all, 
Attila  the  Hun,  who  was  beaten  in  the  battle  of 

Soissons.     After  his  death,  those  of  his  people  who 
47 


48  Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany, 

did  not  go  back  to  Asia  remained  on  the  banks  of 
the  Danube,  and  their  country  is  still  called  Hun- 
gary. 

The  kings  of  these  Franks  were  called  ]Meer- 
wings,  from  one  of  their  forefathers.  The  only 
great  man  who  rose  up  among  them  was  Chlodwig,* 
who  pushed  on  into  Gaul,  made  Soissons  his  home, 
took  Paris  from  the  Gauls,  and  married  Clotilda 
(famous  Valkyr),  the  daughter  of  the  Burgundiau 
king,  who  was  a  Cluistian.  The  other  Deutsch 
tribes  went  to  war  with  Chlodwig,  the  Alle- 
raans  especially ;  and  it  was  in  the  midst  of  a  battle 
with  them,  fought  at  Zulpich,  that  Chlodwig 
vowed  that  if  Clotilda's  God  would  give  him  the 
victory,  he  would  worsliip  Him  rather  than  Freya 
or  Woden.  He  did  gain  the  victory,  and  was  bap- 
tized by  St.  Remigius  at  Rheims,  on  Christmas 
Day,  496,  with  tlu"ee  thousand  of  his  warriors. 
Most  likely  he  thought  that,  as  Gaul  was  a  Chris- 
tian country,  he  could  only  rule  there  by  accepting 
the  Christian's  God  ;  but  he  and  his  sons  remained 
very  fierce  and  wild.  He  conquered  the  Ripuarian 
Franks  and  made  them  one  with  his  own  people, 

*  The  French  call  him  Clovis,  but  he  shall  have  his  proper 
i.aine  here  —  Chlodwig,  famous  war. 


The  Franks.  51 

and  he  also  conquered  the  Goths  in  the  South  of 
France. 

But  when  he  died  the  kingdom  was  broken  up 
among  his  sons,  and  they  quarreled  and  fought,  so 
that  the  whole  story  of  these  early  Franks  is  full  of 
shocking  deeds.  There  were  generally  two  king- 
doms, called  Oster-rik,  eastern  kingdom,  and  Ne- 
oster-rik,  not  eastern,  or  western  kingdom,  besides 
Bui'gundy,  more  to  the  south.  The  Oster-rik 
stretched  out  from  the  great  rivers  to  the  forests  of 
the  Allemans  and  Saxons,  and  was  sometimes 
joined  to  the  Ne-oster-rik.  The  chief  freemen  used 
to  meet  and  settle  their  affairs  in  the  month  of 
March,  and  this  was  called  a  Marchfield ;  but  the 
king  had  great  power,  and  used  it  very  badly. 

It  was  never  so  badly  used  as  by  the  widows 
of  two  ot  the  long-haired  kings,  Hilpcrik  and  Sieg- 
bert,  brothers  who  reigned  in  the  West  and  East 
kingdoms.  Siegbert's  wife,  Brunhild,  was  the 
daughter  of  the  king  of  the  Goths  in  Spain ;  Frede- 
gond,  the  wife  of  Hilperik,  was  only  a  slave  girl, 
and  hated  Brunhild  so  much  that  she  had  Siegbert 
murdered.  The  murders  Fredegond  was  guilty  of 
were  beyond  all  measure.  Her  step-sons  were 
killed  by  her  messengers,  and  all  who  offended  her 
were   poisoned.       When    her    husband    died,   she 


52  Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

reigned  in  tlie  name  of  her  son  and  then  of  her 
grandson  at  Soissons,  as  Brunhild  did  at  Metz. 
Brunhild  really  tried  to  do  good  to  her  country, 
and  made  some  fine  buildings,  both  churches  and 
convents ;  but  she  was  fierce  and  proud,  and  drove 
away  the  Irish  priest  Columbanus,  when  he  tried 
to  rebuke  her  grandson  Theuderiek  for  his  crimes. 
Theuderick  died  in  613,  leaving  four  sons;  and 
then  Clilotar,  Fredegond's  grandson,  attacked  the 
Oster-rik.  Brunliild  was  old,  and  was  hated  by 
her  people ;  no  one  would  fight  for  her,  and  she 
tried  in  vain  to  escape.  One  of  her  grandsons 
rode  off  on  horseback  and  was  never  heard  of  more, 
and  the  other  tlu-ee  were  seized  Avith  her,  Frede- 
gond  was  dead,  but  she  had  brought  up  Chlotar  in 
bitter  hatred  of  Brunhild,  and  he  accused  her  of 
having  caused  the  death  of  ten  kings.  He  paraded 
her  through  his  camp  on  a  camel,  put  her  great-grand- 
childi-en  to  death  before  her  eyes,  and  then  had 
her  tied  by  the  body  to  a  tree  and  by  the  feet  to  a 
Avild  horse,  so  that  she  died  a  horrible  death. 

After  this  the  two  kingdoms  were  joined  to- 
gether ;  but  this  wicked  race  of  kings  become  so 
dull  and  stupid  that  they  could  not  manage  their 
own  affairs,  and  they  had,  besides,  granted  away  a 
great  many  of  their  lands  in  fee,  as  it  was  called, 


The  Franks,  66 

to  their  men,  who  were  bound  in  return  to  do  them 
service  in  war.  These  hinds  were  called  fiefs,  and 
the  holders  of  them  were  called  Heer  Zog — that 
is,  army  leaders  —  Duces  (Dukes)  in  Latin;  and 
Grafen,  which  properly  meant  judges,  and  whose 
Latin  title  was  Comites  (comrades),  commonly 
called  Counts.  A  city  would  have  a  Graf  or 
Count  to  rule  it  for  the  king  and  manage  its  affairs 
at  his  court;  and  besides  these  who  were  really 
officers  of  the  king,  there  were  the  Freiherren,  or 
free  lords,  who  held  no  of&ce,  and  were  bound 
only  to  come  out  when  the  nation  was  called  on. 
They  came  to  be  also  termed  Barons,  a  word 
meaning  man. 

The  kings  lived  on  great  farms  near  the  cities  in 
a  rough  sort  of  plenty,  and  went  about  in  rude 
wagons  drawn  by  oxen.  Tlie  long-haired  kings 
soon  grew  too  lazy  to  lead  the  people  out  to  war, 
and  left  everything  to  the  chief  of  their  officers, 
who  was  called  the  Mayor  of  the  Palace. 

Pippin  *  of  Landen  was  a  very  famous  Mayor  of 
the  Palace  in  the  kingdom  of  the  East  Franks  or 
Oster-rik,  and  his  family  had  the  same  power  after 
him.  His  grandson,  Pippin  of  Herstall,  Duke  of 
the  Franks,  beat  the  West  Franks  at  Testri  in  687, 

*  A  pet  name  for  father. 


56  Young  Folks    History  of  Germany, 

and  ruled  over  both  kingdoms  at  once,  though 
each  had  its  own  JNIeerwing  king. 

His  son  was  Karl*  of  the  Hammer,  or  Charles 
Martel,  Avho  was  also  INIayor  of  the  Palace  and 
Duke  of  the  Franks,  both  East  and  West.  He 
saved  all  Christendom  from  being  overrun  by  the 
Saracen  Arabs,  b}^  beating  them  in  the  great  battle 
of  Tours  in  731. 

His  son  was  Pippin  the  Short,  who  had  the  same 
power  at  first,  and  became  a  great  fnend  and 
helper  to  the  Pope,  who  was  much  distressed  by 
the  Lombard  kings  in  Northern  Italy,  who  tlu-eat- 
ened  to  take  Rome  from  him.  Pope  Zacharias  re- 
warded Pippin  by  consenting  to  liis  becoming  king 
of  the  Franks  when  the  last  of  the  Meerwings  gave 
up  liis  crown  and  went  into  a  monastery. 

Pippin's  own  subjects,  the  Franks,  were  Chris- 
tians ;  but  the  tribes  in  Germany  and  Friesland  still 
worshiped  Woden  and  Thor.  The  English  Church 
sent  missionaries  to  them,  and  Pippin  helped  them 
as  much  as  he  could.  The  greatest  was  St.  Boni- 
face, who  converted  so  many  Germans  that  he  was 
made  Archbishop  of  Mainz,  and  tliis  iias  always 
been  the  chief  see  in  Germany.  At  Giesmar,  the 
Hessians  honored  a  great  oak  sacred  to  Thor,  and 

*  A  strong  man. 


The  Franks.  69 

Boniface  found  that  even  the  Christians  still  feared 
the  tree.  He  told  them  that  if  Thor  was  a  god  he 
would  defend  his  own ;  then,  at  the  head  of  all  his 
clergy,  he  cut  down  the  tree,  and  the  people  saw 
that  Thor  was  no  god.  When  he  baptized  them 
he  made  them  renounce  not  only  the  devil,  but 
Woden  and  all  false  gods.  At  last  he  was  martyred 
by  the  heathen  Frisians  in  755. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

KAKL  THE    GREAT. 

768-814. 

T3ECAUSE  of  the  help  Pippin  gave  the  Pope 

-■-^    he    was   made  a   patrician    of   Rome ;  and, 

when  he  died  in  768,  liis  son  Karl  inherited  the 

same   rank.      Karl  was  one  of  the   mightiest  and 

wisest  of  kings,  who  well  deserves  to  be  called  the 

Great,  for  though  he  was  warlike,  he  fought  as 

much  for  liis  people's  good  as  for  his  own  power, 

and  tried  to  make  all  around  him  wise  and  good. 

Wherever  he  heard  of  a  good  scholar,  in  Italy  or  in 

England,  or  in  any  part  of  Gaul,  he  sent  for  him  to 

his  court,  and  thus  had  a  kind  of  school  in  his 

palace,  where  he  and  his  sons  tried  to  set  the  rough, 

fierce  young  Franks  the  example  of  learning  from 

the  Romans  and  their  pupils  the  old  Gauls.     Karl 

could  speak  and  read  Latin  as  naturally  as  liis  own 

60 


Karl  The   Great.  63 

native  Deiitscli ;  but  he  never  could  learn  the  art 
of  writing,  thougli  lie  used  to  carry  about  tablets 
and  practise  when  he  had  leisure.  However,  he 
had  much  really  deep  knowledge,  and  a  gi-eat  mind 
that  knew  how  to  make  the  best  use  of  all  kinds  of 
learning. 

All  the  German  tribes  were  under  him  as  king 
of  the  Franks  except  the  Saxons,  whose  lands 
reached  from  the  Elbe  to  Thuringia  and  the  Rliine. 
They  were  heathens,  who  refused  to  listen  to  St. 
Boniface  and  his  missionaries,  and  still  honored  the 
great  idol  at  Eresbury  called  the  Irmansaul.  Karl 
invaded  the  land,  overtlirew  this  image,  and  hoped 
he  had  gained  the  submission  of  the  Saxons,  send- 
ing missionaries  among  them  to  teach  them  the 
truth ;  but  they  were  still  heathens  at  heart,  and 
rose  against  him  under  their  chief  Witikind,  so  that 
the  war  altogether  lasted  thirty  years.  The  Saxons 
rose  against  him  again  and  again,  and  once  so  en- 
raged him  that  he  caused  four  thousand  five  hun- 
dred who  had  been  made  prisoners  to  be  put  to 
death ;  but  still  Witikind  fought  on  till  his  strength 
was  crushed.  At  last  he  submitted,  and  was 
brought  to  see  Karl  at  Atigny,  where  they  made 
friends,  and  Witikind  consented  to  be  baptized  and 
to  keep  the  peace. 


64  Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

When  Witikind  died,  five  years  later,  Karl  made 
Saxony  into  eight  bishoprics.  He  made  bishops  as 
powerful  as  he  could,  giving  them  guards  of  soldiers, 
and  appointing  them,  when  he  covild,  Counts  of  the 
chief  cities  of  their  sees,  because  he  could  trust  them 
better  than  the  wild,  rugged  Frank  nobles.  The 
great  bishoprics  of  Metz,  Trier,  and  Koln  rose  to  be 
princely  states  in  tliis  way. 

While  Karl  was  gone  the  first  time  to  Saxony, 
the  Lombard  king,  Desiderius,  began  to  harass 
Rome  again ;  and  the  Pope,  Leo  III.,  again  sent  to 
ask  aid  from  Karl,  who  crossed  the  Al2:)s,  besieged 
Pavia,  and  sent  the  king  into  a  monastery,  wliile  he 
was  himself  crowned  with  the  iron  crown  that  the 
Lombard  kings  had  always  worn.  Then  he  went 
on  to  Rome,  where  he  dismounted  from  his  horse 
and  walked  in  a  grand  procession  to  the  Church  of 
St.  Peter  on  the  Vatican  hill,  kissing  each  step  of 
the  staircase  before  he  mounted  it,  in  remembrance 
of  the  holy  men  who  had  trodden  there  before  him. 
In  the  church  the  pope  received  him,  while  the  choir 
chanted  "  Blessed  be  he  that  cometh  in  the  Name 
of  the  Lord." 

But  the  Lombards  chose  the  son  of  their  late  king 
for  their  leader,  and  there  was  another  war  wliich 
ended   in   their   being   quite    crushed.     Karl   also 


66  Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

gained  great  victories  over  the  Moors  in  Spain,  ind 
won  the  whole  of  the  country  as  far  as  the  Ebro  ; 
but  the  wild  people  of  the  Pyrenees,  though  they 
were  Cliristians,  were  jealous  of  his  power,  and  rose 
on  his  army  as  it  was  returning  in  the  Pass  of 
Roncesvalles,  cutting  off  the  liindmost  of  them 
especially  Roland,  the  warden  of  the  marches  of 
Brittany,  about  whom  there  are  almost  as  many 
stories  as  about  the  heroes  of  the  Nibelung. 

He  had  another  great  war  with  the  Avars  and 
Bohemians,  people  of  Slavonic  race,  who  lived  to 
the  eastward  of  the  Deutsch,  and  had  ringforts  or 
castles  consisting  of  rings  of  liigh  walls,  one  within 
another.  One  of  the  Swabians  who  fought  under 
Karl  was  said,  at  the  taking  of  one  of  these  forts, 
to  have  run  liis  spear  through  seven  of  the  enemy, 
at  once !  The  ringforts  were  taken,  and  Karl 
appointed  all  around  the  border  or  marches  of 
his  kingdoms  March-counts,  Mark-grafen,  or  Mar- 
quesses, who  were  to  guard  the  people  witliin  from 
the  wild  tribes  without.  One  mark  was  Karnthen 
or  Carinthia,  going  from  the  Adriatic  to  the 
Danube;  another  was  CEsterreich  or  Austria,  the 
East  Mark;  and  another  was  Brandenburg.  All 
the  countries  in  his  dominion  were  visited  four  times 
a  year  by  officers  who  made  reports  to  him,  and 


Karl  The   Great.  69 

judged  causes ;  but  if  people  were  not  satisfied,  they 
might  appeal  to  the  Palace  judge,  or  Pfalzgraf  — 
Palgraf,  as  he  was  called. 

His  lands  streached  from  the  Baltic  Sea  to  the 
JMediterraneau  and  the  Ebro,  from  the  Bay  of  Biscay 
to  the  borders  of  the  Huns  and  Avars;  and  wlieu 
he  held  his  great  court  at  Paderborn  in  729  he  had 
people  there  from  all  the  countries  round,  and  even 
the  great  Khalif  Haroun  al  Rascliid  (the  same  of 
whom  we  hear  so  much  in  the  Arabian  Nightn) 
being  likewise  an  enemy  of  the  Moors  in  Spain,  sent 
gifts  to  the  great  king  of  the  Franks  —  an  elephant, 
a  beautiful  tent,  a  set  of  costly  chessmen,  and  a 
water-clock,  so  arranged  that  at  every  hour  a  little 
brazen  ball  fell  into  a  brass  basin,  and  little  figures 
of  knights,  from  one  to  twelve,  according  to  the 
hour,  came  out  and  paraded  about  in  front. 

Pope  Leo  X.  came  likewise  to  Paderborn,  and 
by  liis  invitation  Karl  made  a  tliird  visit  to  Rome 
in  the  year  800,  and  was  then  made  Emperor  of  the 
West.  The  old  Roman  Empire  was  revived  in  him, 
the  citizens  shouting,  "  Long  live  Carolus  Augustus 
the  Cfesar ;  "  and  from  that  time  Caesar,  or,  as  the 
Germans  call  it,  Kaisar,  has  always  been  the  title 
of  Karl's  successors  in  what  he  called  the  Holy  Ro- 
man Empire,  as  he  held  his  power  from  the  Church, 


70  Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

and  meant  to  use  it  for  God's  glory.  The  empire 
was  a  gathering  of  kingdoms — namely,  the  old 
Frank  Oster-rik  and  Ne-oster-rik,  Germany,  the 
kingdom  of  Aquitane,  the  kingdom  of  Bur- 
gundy, of  Lombardy,  and  Italy.  Karl  was  Idng  of 
each  of  these,  but  he  meant  to  divide  them  between' 
his  sons  and  Bernhard,  *  king  of  Italy.  The  little 
Ludwig,  at  tlu-ee  years  old,  was  dressed  in  royal 
robes  and  sent  to  take  possession  of  Aquitaine, 
while  Karl  himself  reigned  at  Aachen,  where  he 
built  a  grand  palace  and  cathedral.  His  two  elder 
sons  died  young,  and  when  the  Kaisar  fell  sick  at 
Aachen,  Ludwig  was  his  only  son.  He  took  the 
youth  into  the  cathedral,  made  him  swear  to  fear 
and  love  God,  defend  the  Church,  love  his  people, 
and  keep  a  conscience  void  of  offence,  and  then 
bade  him  take  the  crown  off  tlie  altar  and  put  it  on 
his  own  head.  Karl  lived  a  year  after  this,  and 
died  in  814,  one  of  the  greatest  men  who  ever 
lived. 

*  Firm  Bears. 


^ 


CHAPTER    VII. 

LUDWIG  I.,  THE  PIOUS, 814-840. 

LOTHAR  I.,    &40-855. 

LUDWIG  II.,    855-875. 

KARL  II.,   THE  BALD, S75-876. 

KARLOM  AN, 876-880. 

KARL  III.,  THE  THICK, 880-887. 

ARNULF 887-899. 

LUDWIG  IV.,  THE  CHILD,  .  .  .  899-812. 

LUDWIG  THE  PIOUS  is  the  same  emperor 
as  he  whom  the  French  call  Louis  the 
debonair,  but  it  is  better  to  use  his  real  name, 
wliich  is  only  a  little  softened  from  Chlodwig.  He 
was  a  good,  gentle  man,  but  he  had  not  such 
strength  or  skill  as  his  father  to  rule  that  great 
empire,  and  he  was  much  too  easily  led.  He  was 
crowned  Emperor  by  Pope  Stephen,  and  then 
gave  kingdoms  to  his  sons ;  Lothar  *  had  the 
Rliineland,  the  old  home  of  the  Franks,  and  was 
joined  in  the  empne  ^vith  his  father;  Pippin  had 

*  Famous  Warrior. 

73 


74  Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

Aquitaine,  and  Liidwig  Bavaria;  but  none  of 
them  were  to  make  peace  or  war  without  consent 
of  the  Emperor.  Bernhard,  King  of  Italy,  their 
cousin,  did  not  choose  to  reign  on  these  terms,  and 
marched  against  the  Emperor,  but  was  defeated, 
made  prisoner,  condemned  by  the  Franks,  and  put 


LUDWIG    THE    PIOUS. 


to  death.  Lotliar  had  his  kingdom,  and  was  sus- 
pected of  having  prevented  him  from  being  par- 
doned; but  the  Emperor  always  grieved  over  liis 
death  as  a  great  sin. 

In  814,  Ludwig  I.  lost  his  wife,  and  soon  after 
married  a  Bavarian  lady  named  Judith,  who  had  a 
son  named  Karl.     Ludwig  wanted  a  kingdom  for 


Ludwig  J.,  the  Pious.  76 

this  boy,  and.  called  a  diet  at  Wurms,  where  a  new 
kingdom  called  Germany  was  carved  ont  for  Iiim  ; 
but  this  greatly  offended  his  brothers,  who  rose 
against  their  father,  and  overcame  him.  They 
wanted  to  drive  him  into  becoming  a  monk,  but 
this  he  would  iiot  do,  and  his  German  subjects  rose 
in  his  favour,  and  set  him  on  his  throne  again. 

He  forgave  his  sons,  and  sent  them  back  to  theii 
kingdoms ;  but  in  a  few  years  they  Avere  all  up  in 
arms  again,  and  met  the  Emperor  near  Colmar. 
All  Ludwig's  men  deserted  him  when  the  battle 
was  about  to  begin,  so  that  the  place  was  after- 
wards called  the  Field  of  Falsehood.  The  Emperor 
fell  into  his  sons'  hands,  and  Lothar,  in  the  hope  of 
keeping  him  from  reigning  again,  persuaded  the 
clergy  to  tell  him  it  was  his  dut}'  to  submit  to 
penance  of  the  higher  degree,  after  which  nobody 
was  allowed  to  command  an  army.  The  meek 
Emperor,  who  had  always  reproached  himself  for 
Bernhard's  death,  was  willing  to  humble  himself, 
and,  stripped  off  his  robes,  he  lay  on  a  couch  of 
sackcloth  and  read  a  list  of  his  sins,  which  had 
been  drawn  up  by  his  foes,  and  made  him  confess 
not  only  that  he  had  been  unjust  to  Bernhard,  but 
that  he  had  been  a  blasphemer,  a  perjured  wretch, 
and  fomenter  of  strife.     Then  thirty  bishops,  one 


76  Young  Folks'  History  of  G-ermany. 

after  the  other,  laid  their  hands  on  his  head,  while 
the  penitential  psalms  were  sung,  and  all  the  time 
Lothar  looked  on  from  a  throne  rejoicing  in  his 
father's  humiliation.  But  his  pride  had  shocked 
every  one,  and  his  two  brothers,  with  a  number  of 
Franks,  rose  and  rescued  the  Emperor  from  him, 
treating  their  father  with  all  love  and  honor,  and 
the  bishops  bidding  him  resume  liis  sword  and  belt. 
Even  Lothar  was  obliged  to  come  to  him  and  say, 
"  Father,  I  have  sinned  against  heaven  and  in  thy 
sight,"  and  the  gentle  old  man  kissed  him,  and  sent 
him  to  Italy. 

When  Pippin  died  there  was  a  fresh  war,  for  the 
people  of  Aquitaine  would  allow  no  Franks  to 
come  near  his  son,  from  whom  therefore  Ludwig 
took  the  kingdom,  and  there  was  much  fighting 
and  many  horrors,  all  made  worse  by  the  ravages  of 
the  heathen  Northmen  and  Danes.  At  Wurms,  a 
treaty  was  made  by  Avhich  Lothar  was  to  have  all 
the  eastern  half  of  the  empire,  Karl  all  the  western, 
leaving  young  Ludwig  only  Bavaria.  Ludwig,  in 
his  anger,  took  up  arms,  and  just  as  the  war  was 
beginning,  the  good  gentle  old  Emperor  became  so 
ill  that  he  retired  to  an  island  in  the  Rhine  named 
Ligelheim,  and  there  died.  The  priest  who  at- 
tended him  asked  if  lie  forgave  his  son.     "  Freely 


Ludwig  /.,  the  Pious.  77 

do  I  forgive  him,"  said  the  old  man ;  "  but  fail  not 
to  warn  him  that  he  has  brought  down  my  grey 
hairs  with  sorrow  to  the  grave."  Ludwig  I.  died 
in  840,  in  his  sixty-third  year. 

Karl  then  joined  Ludwig  against  Lothar,  and  at 
Fontanet,  near  Auxerre,  there  was  a  desperate 
battle,  150,000  men  on  each  side,  with  a  front  six 
miles  long  to  each  army.  The  fight  lasted  six 
hours,  and  Lothar  was  beaten ;  but  his  brothers 
seem  to  have  been  shocked  at  their  own  victory 
over  a  brother  and  an  emperor,  and  there  was  a 
fast  of  tlu-ee  days  after  it.  They  soon  after  made 
peace  at  the  treaty  of  Verdun,  in  843,  by  which 
Ludwig  had  the  countries  between  the  Rhine,  the 
North  Sea,  the  Elbe,  and  the  Alps  —  what  in  fact 
is  now  called  Germany.  Lothar  had,  besides  Italy, 
all  the  Rhineland,  and  the  country  between  the 
Scheldt,  the  Meuse,  the  Saone,  and  the  Rhone. 
This  was  called  Lothar's  portion,  or  Lotharingia, 
and  part  is  still  called  Lorraine. 

Karl's  portion  was  all  to  the  west  of  this,  and 
was  then  called  Karolingia,  after  his  name,  but  it 
did  not  keep  the  title,  and  after  a  time  came  to  be 
known  as  France. 

Ludwig  IL,  King  of  Germany,  was  much  tor- 
mented, both  by  the  Northmen  and  the  Slavonic 


78  Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

nations  to  the  east,  Avars,  Bohemians,  or  Czechs, 
as  they  call  themselves,  and  the  Magyars,  who  lived 
in  the  country  once  settled  by  Attila's  Huns,  and 
therefore  called  Hungary.  There  is  a  story  that, 
when  the  Saxons  and  Thuringians  came  home 
defeated  from  a  battle  Avith  these  j^eople,  then- 
wives  rose  up  and  flogged  them  well  for  theii" 
cowardice. 

Lothar  I.,  the  Emperor,  died  in  855,  and  his  son 
Ludwig  is  counted  as  the  second  Kaisar  of  the 
name,  but  he  died  without  children,  in  875,  and 
then  there  was  a  war  between  all  his  brothers  and 
Ludwig,  King  of  Germany,  and  Karl,  of  Karolingia ; 
ending  in  Karl,  who  was  commonly  called  the 
Bald,  becoming  Kaisar  Karl  II. ;  but  he  had  many 
more  kingdoms  on  liis  hands  than  he  could  manage, 
and  was  terribly  tormented  "with  the  Northmen, 
besides  having  quarrels  on  his  hands  with  all  liis 
nephews.  His  brother  Ludwig  of  Germany  made 
matters  worse  by  dividing  his  kingdom  into  three 
at  liis  death,  in  876,  for  liis  three  sons.  Kaiioman, 
the  eldest  of  these,  attacked  the  Kaisar,  and  drove 
him  to  the  alps,  where  he  died  at  the  foot  of  Mount 
Cenis,  in  877,  after  a  miserable  reign. 

Karloman  then  became  Emperor.  He  was  also 
King  of  Bavaria  and  of  Italy,  and  liis  next  brother 


Karl  IL,  the  Bald.  79 

Ludwig  was  King  of  Saxony,  where  an  old  chroni- 
cler says  that  his  life  was  useless  alike  to  himself, 
the  Church,  and  his  kingdom ;  and  so,  when  Karl- 
oman  died,  the  empire  was  given  to  the  youngest 
brother,  Karl  III.,  *  called  der  Dicke,  the  Thick, 
who  turned  out  not  to  be  much  wiser  or  more 
active.  In  his  time  the  Northmen  made  worse 
inroads  than  ever ;  and  though  on  the  death  of  his 
cousin,  called  Louis  the  Stammerer,  France  likewise 
fell  to  him,  he  was  quite  unable  to  protect  his 
people  anywhere ;  and  when  the  Count  of  Paris 
forced  his  way  through  the  Northern  fleet  in  the 
Seine,  and  came  to  beg  his  help,  he  could  do 
nothing  but  offer  a  sum  of  money  to  buy  them  oflp. 
Everybody  was  weary  of  him,  and  at  last  an 
assembly  was  held  at  Tribur,  on  the  Rhine,  which 
declared  him  unfit  to  rule,  and  sent  him  into  a 
monastery,  where  he  died  in  two  months,  in  888. 
Arnulf,  a  son  of  Karloman,  was  made  Emperor, 
but  the  French  took  the  brave  Count  of  Paris  for 
their  king,  and  France  never  formed  part  of  the 
empire  again.  Arnulf  was  a  brave  Kaiser,  and  so 
beat  off  the  Northmen  that  they  never  greatly 
molested  Germany  again ;  but  he  died  young,  in 

*The  French  call  him  Charles  le  Gros  and  he  is  generally 
tei-med  the  Fat,  but  Thick  seems  to  express  dullness  as  well  as 
stoutness. 


80  Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany, 

899,  when  his  son  Ludwig  III.,  called  the  Child, 
was  only  six  years  old.  He  had  a  stormy  reign,  so 
tormented  by  the  Magyars,  who  were  trying  to 
push  beyond  Hungary,  that  he  died  of  grief,  quite 
worn  out,  in  912. 


CHAPTER   Vm. 

KONKAD  1 912-917. 

HEIXKICII  I., 917-936. 

OTTO  I.,  THE  GREAT, 936-973. 

A  S  the  Karling  line  was  worn  out,  the  German 
■^  ^  nobles  chose  another  Frank,  Konrad,*  Count 
of  Franconia,  for  their  king,  and  when  at  the  end 
of  six  years  he  died,  he  bade  them  choose  in  his 
stead  Count  Heinrich  f  of  Saxony,  who  had  been 
his  enemy,  and  beat  him  in  a  great  battle,  but  whom 
he  thought  the  only  man  who  had  skill  enough  to 
defend  Germany. 

Heinrich  was  hawking  on  the  Harz  Mountains 
when  the  news  of  this  advice  was  brought  to  him, 
and  he  is  therefore  called  Heinrich  the  Fowler.  He 
was  wise  and  brave,  and  brought  all  the  great  duke- 
doms of  Germany  under  his  rule.  These  were, 
besides  Saxony,  Franconia,  Swabia,  Bavaria,  and 
Lorraine.     His  great  wars  were  with  the  Magyars 

*  Bold  Speech.  t  Home  Ruler. 

83 


84  Young  Folks^  History  of  G-ermany. 

iu  Hungary.  Though  he  beat  them  in  one  battle, 
he  was  forced,  to  make  a  truce  for  nine  years,  and 
pay  them  tribute  in  gold  all  the  time.  During  all 
that  time  he  was  preparing  himself  and  liis  people, 
and  training  his  nobles  to  fight  on  horseback,  by 
games  wliich  some  people  say  were  the  beginning 
of  tournaments.  The  men  of  lower  rank  were  to 
be  also  trained  to  fight  from  the  time  they  were 
thirteen  years  old,  and  to  meet  near  the  villages 
every  tln-ee  days  to  practise  the  use  of  arms.  Be- 
sides, he  saw  that  the  great  want  was  of  walled 
cities,  where  the  people  might  take  shelter  from 
their  enemies  ;  so  he  built  towns  and  walled  them 
in,  and  commanded  that  one  man  out  of  every  nine 
should  live  in  a  hurg^  as  these  fortresses  were  called. 
Thus  began  the  burghers  of  Germany.  The  public 
meetings,  fairs,  markets,  and  feasts  were  to  take 
place  within  the  towns,  and  justice  was  to  be  dealt 
out  there.  Stores  were  to  be  kept  in  case  of  a 
siege,  and  the  country  people  were  to  send  in  a  part 
of  their  produce  to  supply  them,  and  in  tliis  way . 
they  were  made  the  great  gathering-places  of  the 
country. 

When  Heinrich  thought  the  country  quite  ready 
to  fight  against  the  Magyars,  lie  defied  them  when 
next  they  sent  for  tribute,  by  giving  them  nothing 


Meinrieh  I.  87 

but  a  wretched  mangy  dog.  The  next  year  they 
entered  Germany  to  punish  him,  but  he  beat  them 
at  Keuschberg.  Then  tliey  lighted  beacon  fires  on 
tlie  hills  to  rouse  their  people,  and  a  great  multi- 
tude mustered  to  overwhelm  the  Germans ;  at  this 
same  place,  Keuschberg,  Heinrich  unfohled  the  ban- 
ner of  St.  Micliael,  and  rushed  on  the  enemy,  all 
his  men  crjang  out  the  Greek  response,  "  Kyrle 
eleison^"'  "  Lord,  have  mercy,"  while  the  Magyars 
answered  with  wild  shouts  of  "  Hui !  Hui ! "  but 
they  were  totally  defeated,  and  driven  back  within 
Hungary.  After  this  his  troops  hailed  him  as  Em- 
peror. He  also  conquered  the  Duke  of  Bohemia, 
and  made  him  do  homagfe  to  the  kinodom  of  Ger- 
many.  He  beat  back  the  Wends,  who  lived  on  the 
marshes  of  the  Baltic  Sea  east  of  tlie  Saxons,  and 
were  their  great  enemies ;  and  he  also  tried  to  drive 
back  the  Danes.  He  tried  to  get  these  nations  to 
become  Christians,  but  he  only  succeeded  with  some 
of  the  Bohemians,  where  the  good  Duke  Wenceslaf 
was  a  Christian,  already,  thanks  to  his  mother,  St. 
Ludmilla.  He  is  the  same  of  whom  the  pretty 
story  is  told  that  we  have  in  the  ballad  of  "  Good 
King  Wenceslas,"  though  he  was  not  really  a  king. 
He  was  murdered  by  his  wicked  brother  Boleslaf, 
and  tlie  Christians  were  persecuted  for  some  years. 


88  Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

The  good  King  Heiiirich  meant  to  go  to  Rome  to 
be  crowned  Kaisar  by  the  Poj3e,  but  he  never  could 
be  spared  long  enough  from  home,  and  died  in  the 
year  936. 

His  son  Otto  had  been  already  chosen  King  of 
Germany,  and  was  married  to  Edith,  sister  to  the 
English  king  Athelstan,  a  gentle  lady,  who  saved 
and  petted  a  deer  which  had  taken  refuge  in  her 
chamber.  He  was  crowned  at  Aachen  by  the  arch- 
bishop of  Mainz,  and  the  great  dukes  Avere  present 
in  right  of  their  offices  —  the  Duke  of  Franconia, 
as  carver ;  the  Duke  of  Lorraine,  as  chamberlain ; 
the  Duke  of  Swabia,  as  cup-bearer;  the  Duke  of 
Bavaria,  as  master  of  the  horse.  Standing  in  the 
middle  aisle  of  the  cathedral,  the  archbishop  called 
on  all  who  would  have  Otto  for  their  king  to  hold 
up  their  right  hands.  Then,  leading  him  to  the 
Altar,  he  gave  liim  the  sword  to  chastise  the  enemies 
of  Christ,  the  mantle  of  peace,  the  sceptre  of  power, 
and  then,  anointing  head,  breast,  arms,  and  hands 
with  oil,  crowned  him  with  the  golden  crown  of 
Karl  the  Great ;  and  there  was  a  great  feast,  when 
all  the  dukes  served  him  according  to  their  offices ; 
but  he  had  a  stormy  reign.  The  Dukes  of  Fran- 
conia, and  Lorraine  rebelled,  and  so  did  his  own 
brothers ;  but  he  was  both  brave,  wise,  and  forgiv- 


Otto  J.,  the   Great.  89 

ing,  so  he  brought  them  all  to  submit,  and  forced 
Boleslaf  of  B.ohemia  to  leave  o£f  persecuting  the 
Christians. 

The  Karling  King  of  France,  Louis  IV.,  had  a 
great  quarrel  with  his  vassals,  Hugh,  Count  of 
Paris,  and  Richard,  Duke  of  Normandy,  who  called 
in  the  help  of  Harald  Blue-tooth,  King  of  Denmark. 
Louis  had  married  another  English  princess,  and 
Otto  came  to  help  his  brother-in-law,  thus  beginning 
a  war  with  Harald  wliich  ended  in  his  making  Den- 
mark subject  to  the  empire ;  and  he  also  subdued 
the  Slavonic  Duchy  of  Poland.  He  founded  bish- 
oprics, like  Karl  the  Great,  wherever  he  conquered 
heathens,  and  sent  missions  with  them.  Magde- 
burg was  one  of  his  great  bishoprics. 

The  Karling  line  of  Kings  of  Italy  had  come  to 
an  end  with  King  Lothar,  who  had  been  married  to 
Adelheid,  a  Karling  herself.  She  was  young  and 
beautiful,  and  the  Lombard  duke,  Berenger  of  Iv 
rea,  wanted  to  marry  her  to  his  son.  When  she  re 
fused,  he  shut  her  up  in  a  castle  on  the  Lago  di 
Garda ;  but  a  good  monk  named  Martin  made  a 
hole  through  the  walls  of  her  dungeon,  and  led  her 
wandering  about,  traveling  by  night,  and  hiding 
by  da}'  in  the  standing  corn  and  reeds,  till  she 
reached  a  fisherman's  hut,  where  she  remained  for 


90  Young  Folks    History  of  Germany. 

some  days  in  the  dress  of  a  fisher-boy,  while  Brother 
Martin  carried  news  to  her  friends.  They  took  her 
to  the  castle  of  Cauossa,  and  sent  to  entreat  the 
help  of  Otto.  He  had  lost  his  English  wife ;  so 
Adelheid  offered  to  marry  him,  and  give  him  her 


ADELHEID   HIDING  IN   THE   CORN. 


claim  to  the  kingdom  of  Italy.  He  collected  his 
troops,  and  came  down  on  Berenger,  who  was  be- 
sieging Canossa,  drove  liim  away,  and,  taking  the 
Queen  in  triumph  to  Pavia,  held  at  once  his  wed- 
ding and  liis  coronation  as  King  of  the  Lombards. 
He  was,   however,    not   at  peace,   for  his   son 


Otto  /.,  the    Great.  91 

Luclolf,  Duke  of  Swabia,  rebelled  against  him,  out 
of  jealousy  of  his  brother  Heinrich ;  but  he  was 
tamed  at  last,  and  came  barefoot  to  kneel  at  liis 
father's  feet  for  pardon,  wliich  the  Kmg  gave  him, 
but  he  forfeited  his  dukedom,  and  was  sent  to 
Italy.  After  this  he  had  another  terrible  war  with 
the  ^Magyars,  ending  in  a  most  horrible  battle  on 
the  Leeh,  when  the  river  ran  red  with  blood,  and 
out  of  60,000  ^lagyars  only  seven  came  home  to 
tell  the  tale,  and  those  with  slit  noses  and  ears. 
The  Germans  on  the  field  of  battle  hailed  Otto  as 
Kaisar ;  and  as  he  was  soon  after  called  into  Italy 
to  set  to  rights  the  disorder  caused  by  Ludolf's 
bad  management,  he  went  to  Rome,  and  was 
crowned  Emperor,  while  his  son  Otto  was  crowned 
King  of  the  Germans,  at  Aachen,  in  961.  Things 
were  in  a  sad  state  at  Rome.  The  Popes  were 
now  so  powerful  that  ambitious  men  wanted  to  be 
Popes,  and  there  was  bribery,  fightmg,  and  murder 
to  gain  the  holy  office.  So  Otto  called  a  council 
of  Bishops,  and  tried  to  bring  things  into  better 
order,  but  when  he  went  away  they  soon  fell  back 
again,  and  great  crimes  were  committed. 

Otto  had  nearly  as  large  an  empire  as  Karl  the 
Great,  for  if  he  had  less  to  the  west  and  south,  he 
had  more  to  the  north   and   east.     He    was    well 


I 


92  Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

named  the  great,  for  he  was  a  good  and  pious,  wise 
and  warlike  man.  He  spent  his  last  years  mostly 
in  Italy,  but  he  died,  in  973,  at  Memleben,  while 
kneeling  before  the  altar  in  the  church,  so  peace- 
fully that  he  was  thought  to  be  only  asleep.  He 
was  buried  at  Magdeburg,  beside  his  first  wife,  the 
English  Edith.  ■ 


1 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  SAXON  EMPERORS. 

OTTO  II.,  THE  RED, 973-  983. 

OTTO  III.,  THE  WONDER, 983-1000. 

ST.  HEINRICH  II., 1000-1024. 

/^~\TTO  II.  was  called  the  Red,  and  was  but 
^^  nineteen  years  old  when  his  father  died, 
though  he  had  been  already  crowned  and  married. 
His  wife  was  Theophano,  daughter  of  the  Eastern 
Emperor  Nicephorus.  Bishop  Liutprand  had  been 
sent  to  ask  her  of  her  father,  but  was  greatly  dis- 
pleased with  Constantinople,  where  the  Emperor 
told  him  that  the  Germans  would  only  fight  when 
they  were  drunk,  and  that  their  weapons  were  too 
heavy  to  use.  Also,  he  said  that  there  were  no 
real  Romans  save  at  Constantinople,  and  made  a 
sign  with  his  hand  to  shut  Liutprand's  mouth 
when  he  began  to  speak.     The  Eastern  Caesars  no 

doubt  greatly  despised  the  attempt  of  the   barba- 
93 


94  Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

rous  Germans  to  call  themselves  Kaisars,  wliile  the 
German  Bishop  thought  400  stout  Germans  could 
have  beaten  their  whole  army,  and  called  Constan- 
tinople a  "perjured,  lying,  cheating,  rapacious, 
greedy,  avaricious,  nasty  town." 

Otto  was  so  young  that  almost  all  the  great 
dukes  whom  his  father  had  forced  to  do  homage 
hoped  to  shake  off  his  yoke,  but  he  reduced  them 
all.  Then  Lothar,  King  of  France,  went  to  war 
with  liim,  and  swore  that  he  would  di-ink  up  all 
the  rivers  in  Germany ;  to  which  Otto  replied  that 
he  would  cover  all  France  with  straw  hats,  for  the 
Saxon  troops  used  to  go  out  to  war  in  summer 
with  straw  hats  over  their  hemlets.  Charles,  the 
brother  of  Lothar,  marched  through  Lorraine  and 
seized  Aachen,  where  he  turned  the  golden  eagle 
on  the  roof  of  the  palace  of  Charles  the  great  with 
his  beak  towards  France ;  but  Otto  met  him  there, 
routed  him,  and  hunted  him  back  to  Paris.  There, 
while  the  Germans  besieged  the  city,  Lothar  offered 
to  settle  the  matter  by  a  single  combat  with  Otto, 
but  the  Germans  answered,  "  We  always  heard 
that  the  Franks  set  little  store  by  their  King,  and 
now  we  see  it."  They  could  not  take  the  city,  and 
concluded  a  peace,  by  which  the  right  of  the  em- 
pire to  Lorraine  was  established. 


Otto  ILy  the  Red.  97 

Otto  was  the  son  of  the  Empress  Adelheid,  and 
thus  was  half  Italian,  and  he  cared  very  much  for 
the  ajffairs  of  Italy.  Rome  was  in  a  dreadful  state, 
for  the  people  had  hated  having  Popes  thrust  on 
them  by  German  Emperors,  and  broke  out  again 
and  again.  One  Pope  had  just  been  murdered, 
and  another  set  up  in  liis  place,  and  Otto  thought 
it  was  time  to  interfere  with  a  high  hand,  and  also 
a  cruel  one  ;  so  he  came  to  Rome,  and  inviting  the 
chief  citizens  to  a  feast  in  the  open  space  before  St. 
Peter's  Church,  there  seized  and  put  to  death  all 
whom  he  thought  dangerous  to  the  authority  of 
Rome. 

The  southern  provinces  of  Italy  had  been  prom- 
ised him  as  the  portion  of  his  wife  Theophano,  but 
as  they  were  not  given  up  to  him,  he  marched  to 
take  possession  of  them ;  but  the  Greek  Emperor 
had  allied  himself  with  a  body  of  Saracens  who  had 
settled  in  part  of  Sicily,  and  Otto  met  with  a  terri- 
ble defeat  at  Basantello  in  Calabria.  He  had  lost 
his  horse  in  the  battle,  and  made  for  the  sea-shore 
on  foot.  A  Je^vish  rabbi,  coming  by  offered  him 
his  horse,  and  on  this  horse,  with  the  shouts  of  the 
pursuing  Saracens  still  ringing  in  his  ears,  the  Em- 
peror dashed  into  the  sea  towards  a  Greek  ship, 
which   took   him  on  board.     He  spoke    Greek   so 


98  Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

well  that  no  one  found  out  he  was  a  German ;  and 
though  one  Slavonic  merchant  was  there  who  knew 
him,  he  did  not  betray  him,  but  contrived  that  the 
ship  should  put  in  at  the  city  of  Rossano,  where 
Otto  escaped  unperceived,  and  swam  ashore.  There 
he  found  his  wife  Theophano,  but  she,  as  a  Greek, 
was  proud  of  the  victory  of  her  nation,  and  instead 
of  comforting  him,  scornfully  said,  "  How  my 
countrymen  have  frightened  you!"  Otto  took 
this  bitterly  to  heart,  and  meant  to  assemble  a  fresh 
army  and  retrieve  his  cause,  but  his  health  had 
been  hurt  by  his  campaign,  and  he  grew  so  ill  that 
he  called  a  Diet  at  Verona,  and  obtained  of  his 
nobles  the  assurance  that  they  would  choose  his 
three-year-old  son  King  of  Germany  and  Kaisar,  and 
that  the  two  Empresses,  Theophano  and  Adelheid, 
should  govern  in  his  name.  He  died  in  the  year 
983,  when  only  twenty-nine  years  old. 

Otto  IH.  was  carefully  brought  up  by  his  mother, 
and  Gerbert,  Abbot  of  Magdeburg,  and  was  so 
learned  that  he  was  called  the  Wonder  of  the  World. 
He  was  brave  and  able,  and  was  only  sixteen  when 
he  went  to  Rome  and  was  crowned  Emperor.  His 
design  was  to  make  Rome  liis  capital,  reign  there  as 
Western  Emperor,  and  render  Germany  only  a 
province.:  and  he  made  his  tutor,  Gerbert,    Pope- 


I 


OPfcNINC  the:   TOMV  UK    KAKL  THE  CKbAT. 


Otto  III.,  the    Wonder.  101 

But  his  schemes  were  cut  short  by  liis  death  in 
1000,  in  the  city  of  Paterno,  having  spent  ver}'- 
little  of  liis  short  life  in  Germany,  though  he 
chose  to  be  bui-ied  at  Aachen,  where  shortly  before 
he  had  opened  the  tomb  of  Karl  the  Great,  and 
found  the  robed,  crowned,  and  sceptred  corpse 
sitting  undecaycd  on  its  chair  of  state  just  as  it  had 
been  placed  200  years  before. 

Tliis  year,  1000,  was  that  when  the  end  of  the 
world  was  expected  daily  to  happen,  and  it  had  a 
great  effect  upon  the  whole  world.  Heinrich,  Duke 
of  Bavaria,  Otto's  cousin  through  a  daughter  of 
Otto  the  Great,  was  elected  in  his  place,  and  was 
so  devout  that  he  and  his  wife  Kimigund  *  of  Lux- 
emburg are  both  reckoned  as  saints.  He  endowed 
the  Bishopric  of  Bamberg  with  lands  of  his  own, 
and  therefore  ij  generally  drawn  with  the  model  of 
the  cathedral  in  his  arms.  He  was  crowned  Em- 
peror at  Rome,  and  as  he,  like  Otto,  held  that  the 
Kings  of  the  Germans  had  the  right  of  reigning 
over  Rome  and  Italy,  he  took  the  title  of  King  of 
the  Romans.  Thenceforth  the  German  Kings  were 
so  called  until  they  were  crov/ned  as  Emperors  at 
Rome.  An  Emperor  was  usually  crowned  four 
times — at  Aachen,  as  King  of  the  Romans,  which 

•Bold  War. 


102         Young  Folks'  Historj  of  Germany. 

really  meant  of  Germany ;  at  Pavia,  of  Italy ;  at 
Monza,  of  LomLardy,  with  an  iron  crown,  said  to 
be  made  jjartly  of  one  of  the  nails  of  the  cross ;  and 
o'  Rome,  as  Kaisar  or  Emperor.     It  was  the  choice 


ST.  HENRY. 


of  the  nobles  of  Germany  which  gave  him  all  these 
rights,  though  he  was  never  Kaisar  till  his  corona- 
tion by  the  Emperor.     St.  Heinrich  did  all  he  could 


St.  Heinrieh  II.  103 

to  promote  tlie  conversion  of  the  Slavonic  nations 
round  him,  and  was  a  friend  and  helper  of  the 
good  King  Stephen  of  Hungary-  The  last  event  of 
Ids  life  was  going  to  make  a  visit  to  Robert,  King 
of  France,  a  man  as  pious  and  saintly  as  himself. 
He  died  on  liis  way  back,  in  1024,  the  last  of  the 
Saxon  Emperors. 


CHAPTER   X. 

THE  FKANCONIAN  LINE. 

KONRAD  II.,  THE  SALIC,  .  .  1024-1039. 

IIEINRICH  III., 1039-1054. 

HEINRICH  IV., 1054-1106. 

HEINRICH  v., 1106-1114. 

THE  German  dukes,  archbishops,  counts,  bish- 
ops, and  great  abbots  all  met  on  a  plain  near 
Mainz,  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine,  to  choose  a  new 
king.  Two  Konrads  of  Franconia,  both  cousins, 
and  descended  from  a  daughter  of  Otto  the  Great, 
stood  foremost,  and  they  agreed  that  whichever  was 
elected  should  receive  the  ready  submission  of  the 
other.  The  elder  one,  who  was  chosen,  is  known 
as  Konrad  the  Salic,  because  he  traced  his  descent 
from  the  old  Meerwing  kings ;  but  neither  he  nor 
his  family  resembled  them  in  indolence.  With  the 
help  of  his  son  Heinrich,  he  did  much  to  pull  down 

104 


I 


Heinrich  IH.  105 

tte  power  of  the  dukes,  and  he  favored  the  great 
free  cities,  wliich  were  fast  grooving  into  strength. 

Konrad  was  crowned  Emperor  in  1027,  and  had 
two  kings  present  at  the  ceremony  —  Rudolf,  the 
last  King  of  Burgundy,  and  our  own  Danish  King 
Knut,  whose  daughter  Kunhild  married  Heinrich, 
the  son  of  the  Kaisar.  The  Kaisar's  o^\ti  wife  was 
Gisela,  niece  of  Rudolf,  who  on  liis  death  left  the 
kingdom  to  him.  Tliis  did  not  mean  the  duchy  of 
Burgundy,  which  belonged  to  France,  but  the  old 
kingdom  of  Aries,  or  Provence,  Dauphine,  Savoy, 
and  part  of  S^vitzerland,  over  which  the  Kmgs  of 
Germany  continued  to  have  rights. 

Konrad  had  wars  with  the  Bohemians  and  Hun- 
garians, but  gained  the  advantage  with  both,  and 
lie  was  also  a  great  law-maker.  In  his  time  it  was 
settled  that  lands  should  not  be  freshly  granted  on 
the  death  of  the  holder,  but  should  always  go  on  to 
the  next  heir ;  and  that  no  man  should  forfeit  liis 
fief  save  by  the  judgment  of  his  peers,  thus  prevent- 
ing the  dukes  and  counts  from  takmg  away  the 
grants  to  their  vassals  at  their  own  will.  He  died 
in  1039,  and  was  buried  at  Speyer. 

His  son  Heinrich  HI.  was  twenty-two  when  he 
began  to  reign,  and  was  well  able  to  carry  out  his 
father's  policy,  so  far  as  spirit  and  resolution  went. 


106        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

The  quarrels  at  Rome  were  worse  than  ever,  there 
being  no  less  than  three  Popes,  and  he  marched  to 
Rome,  sent  them  all  into  monasteries,  and  set  up 
one  of  his  own  choosing,  namely,  Clement  11.  In- 
deed, though  his  was  but  a  short  reign,  he  was  the 
maker  of  no  less  than  four  Popes,  for  each  died 
almost  as  soon  as  he  was  appointed  ;  but  there  was 
a  strong  feeling  growing  up  that  this  was  not  the 
right  way  for  the  head  of  the  Western  Church  to 
be  chosen,  and  it  was  most  strongly  felt  by  a  3'oung 
Roman  deacon  called  Hildebrand,  who  resolved  to 
make  a  reformation. 

Things  grew  worse  when  Heinrich  III.  died  in 
the  flower  of  his  age,  in  1054,  leaving  a  little  son, 
Heinrich  IV.,  of  five  years  old,  under  the  charge  of 
his  mother,  Agnes,  a  good  woman,  but  not  strong 
enough  to  keep  the  great  dukes  in  order ;  and  she 
tried  to  bribe  her  enemies  by  giving  them  lands, 
which  only  made  them  more  able  to  do  her  mis- 
chief. The  Church  lands,  the  great  bishoprics  and 
abbeys,  were  given  either  by  favor,  fear,  or  money, 
and  some  dioceses  went  from  father  to  son,  like 
duchies  and  counties,  and  the  clergy  were  getting 
to  be  as  bad  as  the  laity.  To  check  all  this,  Hilde- 
brand led  Pope  Stephen  11.  to  forbid  all  priests, 
even  those  who  were  not  monks,  to  marry ;  and 


Heinrich  IV.  107 

also  a  great  council  was  collected  at  Rome,  at  the 
Lateral!  Gate,  where  it  was  decreed  that  henceforth 
no  clergyman  should  ever  receive  any  benefice  from 
the  hands  of  a  layman,  but  the  bishops  should  be 
chosen  by  their  clergy,  and  the  Pope  hunself  by  the 
seventy  chief  clergy  of  Rome,  who  were  called 
cardinals,  and  wore  scarlet  robes  and  hats,  in  mem- 
ory of  the  old  Roman  purple.  This  was  in  the 
year  1059. 

Three  years  later  the  great  nobles  of  Germany 
resolved  to  be  rid  of  the  rule  of  the  Empress  Agnes. 
Hanno,  archbishop  of  Koln,  invited  her  and  her 
son  to  spend  the  Easter  of  10G2  at  the  island  of 
Kaiserswerth,  on  the  Rhine,  and  while  there  the 
young  Heinrich  was  invited  on  board  a  pleasure- 
boat,  which  instantly  pushed  off  for  the  mainland. 
The  boy,  then  thirteen  years  old,  tried  to  leap  out 
and  swim  back  to  his  mother,  but  he  was  held  back ; 
and  though  his  mother  stood  weeping  and  begging 
for  help,  no  one  would  do  anything  but  yell  at  those 
who  were  rowing  the  boat  rapidly  to  Koln,  where 
Hanno  proclaimed  himself  Regent,  and  declared 
that  the  affairs  of  the  kingdom  shuidd  be  managed 
by  the  bishop  of  whatever  diocese  the  King  was 
in. 

Hanno  hoped  thus  to  rule  the  kingdom,  but  his 


108         Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

plan  turned  against  liim,  for  Adalbert,  Bishop  oi 
Bremen,  got  Heinrich  into  his  power,  and  kept  hiru 
amused  with  constant  feasting  and  revelry,  which 
did  liis  whole  character  much  mischief;  and  he 
learnt  besides  to  dislike  and  distrust  all  the  great 
dukes  and  nobles. 

When  he  came  of  age  he  kept  Adailbert  as  his 
chief  adviser,  and  was  very  liarsh  and  fierce  to  his 
subjects,  especially  the  Saxons.  There  was  a  ris- 
ing against  him,  and  he  was  forced  to  send  away 
Adalbert,  and  marry  Beatha,  the  daughter  of  the 
Margrave  of  Susa ;  but  he  hated  and  ill-used  her, 
and  his  court  was  a  place  of  grievous  wickedness, 
while  there  was  constant  war  with  his  people. 

In  the  meantime  Hildebrand  had  been  chosen 
Pope,  in  the  year  1073,  and  he  at  once  began  to 
enforce  the  decrees  of  the  Lateran  Council,  of  which 
the  Germans  had  taken  no  notice.  The  decree  was 
read  aloud  at  Efrurt  by  the  Archbishop  of  Mainz 
to  a  synod  of  bishops,  and  such  a  roar  of  fury  rose 
that  his  life  Avas  in  danger,  and  Heinrich  thought 
his  subjects  would  all  hold  with  him  in  resisting 
it. 

But  Heinrich's  violence  and  harshness  had  set 
his  people  against  him,  and  the  Saxons  appealed 
to  Rome  against  his  injustice.     Gregory  VII.  sum- 


Heinrich  IV.  Ill 

moned  him  to  Rome  to  answer  their  charges,  excom- 
municating at  the  same  time  all  the  bishops  who 
had  obtained  their  sees  improperly.  Upon  this 
Heinrich  called  together  the  German  bishops  at 
Wurms,  and  made  them  depose  the  Pope.  Gregory 
replied  by  pronouncing  the  King  deposed,  and  re- 
leasing his  subjects  from  their  oath  of  allegiance. 
Germany  and  Italy  were  divided  between  the  Pope 
and  the  King,  and  the  Germans  agreed  that  unless 
the  King  were  abtolved  witliin  the  year  they  must 
regard  him  as  deposed,  and  choose  another  in  his 
stead.  Heinrich  felt  that  he  must  give  way,  and 
he  made  a  most  dangerous  winter  journey  across 
the  Alps  by  !Mont  Cenis,  with  Bertha  and  her  child, 
blinded  by  snow  or  sliding  along  in  frost.  Tlie 
Queen  and  her  child  were  wrapped  in  an  ox-liide, 
and  dragged  along  in  a  sledge. 

In  Lonibardy  the  bishops  and  nobles  were  favor- 
able to  IK-inrich,  but  he  only  sought  to  make  his 
peace  with  the  Pope,  and  hastened  to  Canossa,  the 
castle  of  Countess  Matilda  of  Tuscany,  Gregory's 
greatest  friend,  where  the  Pope  then  was.  He 
came  barefooted  and  bareheaded,  in  the  hair  shirt 
of  a  penitent,  and  was  kept  for  three  days  thus 
doing  penance  in  the  court  of  the  castle  before  he 
was  admitted  to  the   chapel,  where  the  Pope  ab- 


112        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

solved  him,  but  only  on  condition  that,  till  the 
affairs  of  Germany  should  be  settled  by  the  Pope, 
he  should  not  assume  his  place  as  King.  Nor  had 
his  humiliation  liindered  the  Germans,  who  hated 
him,  from  electing  a  new  king,  Rudolf  of  Swabia, 
who  was  called  the  Priests'  King.  All  Germany 
was  thus  at  war,  and  Heinrich  declared  that  Swabia 
was  forfeited,  and  gave  it  to  Friedrich  of  Hohen- 
staufen,  who  had  married  his  daughter  Agnes. 
Gregory,  after  a  time,  took  the  part  of  Rudolf,  and 
Heinrich,  on  his  side,  appointed  a  Pope  of  his  own ; 
so  that  there  were  two  Popes  and  two  Kings  of  the 
Romans,  until  the  battle  of  Zcitz,  where  RudoLTs 
right  hand  was  cut  off  by  Gottfried  of  Bouillon,  and 
he  was  afterwards  killed. 

After  this  Heinrich  prevailed,  and  pushed  into 
Italy,  where  he  beat  Matilda's  army,  and  besieged 
Rome  for  three  years  ;  while  Gregory  retreated  to 
Salerno,  where  he  was  protected  by  the  Norman 
Duke  of  Calabria.  Rome  was  taken,  and  Heinrich 
crowned  Kaisar  by  the  Antipope.  Gregory  VII. 
died  wliile  among  the  Normans,  his  last  word  being, 
"  I  have  loved  righteousness,  and  hated  inicjuity  ; 
therefore  do  I  die  in  exile."  His  successor,  Urban 
II.,  went  on  the  same  system  of  keeping  the  Cliurch 
above  all  temporal  power. 


Heinrich     V.  115 

For  a  little  while  Heinrich  triumphed,  but  his 
enemies  stirred  up  his  sons  against  him.  Konrad, 
the  elder,  died  at  war  with  him ;  Heinrich,  the 
second,  actually  stripped  his  father  of  his  robes,  and, 
in  spite  of  his  tears  and  entreaties,  forced  him  to 
sign  his  abdication.  Then  the  old  man  wandered 
about  half-starved,  and  came  to  the  Bishop  of  Spe- 
yer  to  entreat  for  some  small  office  about  the 
cathedral,  but  this  could  not  be,  as  he  was  excom- 
municated, and  he  had  even  to  sell  his  boots  to  buy 
bread !  He  died  at  Lidge,  in  1106,  and  his  body 
was  put  in  a  stone  coffin  in  an  island  on  the  Maas, 
and  watched  day  and  night  by  a  hermit  till  1111, 
when  Heinrich  V.  came  to  an  agreement  at  Wurms 
with  the  Pope  that,  though  bishops  should  do 
homage  for  the  lands  they  held  of  him,  the  King 
should  not  deliver  to  them  the  ring  and  staff,  which 
betokened  spiritual  power.  After  tliis  Heinrich  IV. 
was  buried.  Heinrich  V.  died  three  years  later. 
He  had  married  our  Henry  the  First's  daughter 
Matilda,  whom  we  call  the  Empress  Maude. 


CHAPTER  XL 

LOTHAR  n., 1125-1137- 

KONRAD  III., 1137-1152. 

WHEN  Heinrich  V.  died,  without  children, 
the  Franconian  line  of  Emperors  came  to 
an  end,  and  ten  great  nobles  from  the  four  cliief 
dukedoms  met  at  Mainz  to  choose  a  new  king. 
Heinrich  had  left  all  his  own  lands  to  his  sister's 
sons,  Konrad  and  Friedrich  of  Hohenstaufen,  and 
one  of  these  hoped  to  be  elected  ;  but  the  Germans 
feared  that  they  would  bring  them  as  many  troubles 
as  had  arisen  under  the  last  Franconians,  and  there- 
fore chose  in  their  stead  Lothar,  Duke  of  Saxony. 

He  thought  he  could  never  do  enough  to  avoid 
the  evils  that  Heinrich  IV.  had  brought  on  the 
country,  and  so  he  asked  Pope  Innocent  II.  to  ratify 
his  election,  and  gave  up  the  agreement  at  Wurms, 
with  all  rights  to  homage  from  bishops.     Tliis  dis- 

116 


Lothar  U.  117 

pleased  the  Hohenstaufen,  and  all  who  held  for  the 
power  of  the  kings,  and  there  was  again  a  great 
war.  The  cliief  supporter  of  the  King  was  Ilein- 
rich  the  Proud,  Duke  of  Bavaria,  who  married  liis 
daughter  Matilda,  and  was  made  Duke  of  Saxony. 
Heiurich's  family  was  descended  from  a  forefather 
named  Welf,  or  Wolf,  a  Christian  name  often  used, 
but  of  wliich  a  very  odd  story  was  told.  It  was 
said  that  the  Countess  of  Altdorf  laughed  at  a  poor 
woman  who  had  tliree  children  born  at  the  same 
time,  and  that,  as  a  punislmient,  she  gave  birth  to 
twelve  sons  in  one  day.  She  was  so  much  shocked 
that  she  sent  all  of  them  but  one  to  be  drowned  in 
the  lake,  but  on  the  way  the  maid,  who  was  carry- 
ing them  in  her  apron,  met  the  count.  He  asked 
what  she  had  there.  "  Whelps,"  she  said ;  but  he 
pulled  aside  her  apron,  and,  seeing  lus  eleven  little 
sons,  had  them  safely  brought  up,  and  they  were 
known  by  the  name  of  Welfen.  One  of  the  Welfs 
married  into  the  Italian  house  of  Este,  and  both  in 
Italy  and  Germany  the  party  of  the  Pope  came  to 
be  known  as  Welfs,  or  Guelfs  ;  wliile  the  party  of 
the  Kaisar  were  termed  Waibiinger,  from  the  castle 
of  Waibling  belonging  to  the  Hohenstaufen.  The 
luilians  made  tliis  word  into  Gliibellini;  and  for 
many  yeais  there  were  fierce  quarrels  between  tlr: 


118        Young  Folks'  History  of  Grermany. 

Guelfs   and   Ghibellines,  the   first   upholding   the 
power  of  the  Church,  the  second  that  of  the  State. 

These  Idngs  of  Germany  were  much  less  power- 
ful than  the  great  Emperors  of  the  house  of  Saxony 
and  Francouia  had  been ;  and  now  that  all  fiefs  had 
been  made  hereditary,  the  gieat  dukes  and  mar- 
graves were  more  independent  of  them,  wliile  the 
counts  and  barons  (Grafen  and  Freiherren,  the 
Germans  called  them)  were  likewise  more  inde- 
pendent of  their  dukes.  Every  one  was  building 
castles  and  fortifying  cities,  whence  the  nobles  made 
war  on  each  other,  and  robbed  those  who  passed  on 
the  roads.  There  is  a  story  of  a  Bishop  who  gave 
a  knight  the  charge  of  his  castle,  and  when  he  was 
asked  how  those  within  it  were  to  live,  pointed 
down  the  four  roads  that  met  there,  to  indicate  tliat 
the  travelers  were  to  be  robbed  for  the  supplies ! 
The  larger  cities  governed  themselves  by  a  council, 
and  called  themselves  free  Imperial  cities,  and  these 
were  the  most  prosperous  and  peaceful  places  both 
in  Germany  and  Italy,  for  even  bishops  and  abbots 
did  not  always  so  keep  out  of  the  fray  as  to  make 
themselves  respected.  The  minne-singers,  love- 
singers,  or  minstrels  could,  however,  go  about  from 
town  to  town  and  castle  to  castle  singing  their 
ballads,  and  were  always  safe  and  welcome. 


LOTHAR  II.  LEADING  THE  POPES  HORSE. 


Konrad  III.  121 

The  great  Countess  Matildia  had  left  all  her  do- 
minions to  the  Pope,  and  Lothar  acknowledged  this 
right  of  Innocent  II.,  and  crossed  the  Alps  in  order 
to  be  crowned  Kaisar.  There  was  an  Antipope  set 
up  by  the  Ghibellines,  who  held  the  Church  of  St. 
Peter  and  the  Castle  of  St.  Angelo,  and  as  Lothar 
could  not  drive  him  out,  the  coronation  had  to  be 
in  the  Church  of  St.  John  Lateran.  He  came  a 
second  time  to  Italy  to  put  down  a  great  distui'bance 
in  Lombardy,  taking  with  him  Konrad  of  Hohen- 
staufen,  to  whom  he  had  restored  the  dukedom  of 
Franconia,  and  had  made  standard-bearer  to  the 
Imperial  army,  Konrad  was  a  good  and  noble  man, 
brave,  courteous,  and  devout,  and  respectful  to  the 
clergy,  especially  the  Pope,  wliich  was  the  more  re- 
marked as  he  was  the  head  of  the  Ghibelline  party. 
The  head  of  the  Guelfs,  Heinrich  the  Proud,  was 
as  much  hated  as  Konrad  Avas  loved,  for  his  inso- 
lence to  every  one  from  the  Pope  downwards,  and 
for  his  savage  cruelties  to  the  prisoners  who  feU 
into  his  hands ;  but  his  father-in-law  the  Emperor 
favored  him,  and  gave  him  the  Marquisate  of 
Tuscany. 

On  the  way  home,  Lothar  II.  was  taken  ill,  and 
died  in  a  peasant's  hut  in  the  Tyrol,  in  1137. 

Heinrich  the  Proud  fully  expected  to  have  been 


122        Toung  Folks'  History  of  Germany^ 

chosen  King  of  the  Romans,  but  he  had  offended 
most  of  liis  party,  even  the  Pope  liimself,  and 
Konrad  was  elected.  There  was  a  battle  between 
Konrad  and  Heinrich's  brother  Welf,  at  the  foot  of 
Weinsberg,  a  hill  crowned  with  a  castle,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Neckar,  and  in  tliis  "Welf"  and 
"Waibling"  were  first  used  as  war-cries.  The 
victory  fell  to  Konrad,  and  he  besieged  the  castle 
till  those  within  offered  to  surrender.  All  the 
men  were  to  be  made  prisoners,  but  the  women 
were  to  go  away  in  peace,  with  as  much  of  her 
treasure  as  each  could  carry.  All  Konrad's  army 
was  drawn  up  to  leave  free  passage  for  the  ladies, 
the  Emperor  at  their  head,  when  behold  a  wonder- 
ful procession  came  down  the  lull.  Each  woman 
carried  on  her  back  her  greatest  treasure  —  husband, 
son,  father,  or  brother !  Some  were  angry  at  this 
as  a  trick,  but  Konrad  was  touched,  granted  safety 
to  all,  and  not  only  gave  freedom  to  the  men,  but 
sent  the  wemon  back  to  fetch  the  wealth  they  had 
left  behind.  The  hill  was  called  Weibertrue,  or 
Woman's  Truth  ;  and  in  1820  Charlotte,  Queen  of 
Wurtemberg,*  with  the  other  ladies  of  Germany, 
built  an  asylum  there  for  poor  women  who  have 
been  noted  for  self-sacrificing  acts  of  love.     Hein- 

*  Daughter  of  George  IIL 


THK  WOMEN  OF   ■Wla^SBERG. 


Conrad  III.  125 

rich  the  Proud  was  reduced,  and  his  two  dukedoms 
taken  away,  Bavaria  being  given  to  Leopold,  Mar- 
grave of  Austria,  and  Saxony  to  Albrecht*  the 
Bear,  already  Count  of  the  Borders ;  but  when 
Heinrich  died,  Konrad  gave  back  Saxony  to  his 
son  Heinrich  the  Lion,  and  Albrecht  the  Bear  be- 
came Margrave  of  a  new  border  country  beyond 
Saxony,  called  Brandenburg,  wliich  he  conquered 
from  the  Wends. 

Germany  had  had  Kttle  to  do  "with  the  first  cru- 
sade as  a  nation,  though  the  noble  and  excellent 
Gorttfried  of  Bouillon,  Duke  of  Lorraine,  had  been 
its  leader,  and  first  King  of  Jerusalem.  But  when 
St.  Bernard  preached  the  second  crusade,  Konrad 
took  the  cross,  and  went  with  an  army  of  70,000 
men.  They  went  by  way  of  Constantinople,  and  in 
the  wild  hills  of  Asia  Minor  were  led  astray  by 
their  guides,  starved  and  distressed,  and  when  the 
Turks  set  upon  them  at  Iconium,  there  was  such  a 
slaughter  that  only  7000  were  left.  Konrad  went 
on  and  joined  the  host  of  King  Louis  V.  of  France 
at  Nicea,  almost  alone,  save  for  the  knights  from 
Provence,  who  had  joined  the  French  army,  and 
whom  Louis  sent  to  form  a  tr.un  for  their  own  Em- 
peror. Together  they  landed  at  Antioch  and  be- 
*  Nobly  bright. 


126        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

sieged  Damascus,  where  Konrad  showed  great 
valor,  and  is  said  to  have  cut  off  the  head  and  arm 
of  a  Turk  with  one  blow  of  liis  sword.  But  they 
could  not  take  the  city,  and,  disgusted  with  the 
falsehood  and  treachery  of  the  dwellers  in  the  Holy 
Land,  Konrad  returned  home,  and  died  three  years 
after,  in  1152.  He  was  the  first  Kaisar  who  used 
the  double  eagle  as  his  standard. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

FRIEDRICII  I.,  BARBAROSSA,  . .  .  1157-1178. 

KONRAD  III.  left  a  son,  but  as  lie  was  very 
young  the  good  king  had  recommended  the 
nobles  to  choose  his  nephew  Friedrich  as  their  king, 
hoping  that  as  his  father  was  a  Hohenstaufen,  and 
his  mother  Jutta  a  Bavarian,  the  breach  between 
Welfs  and  Waiblings  might  be  healed.  Friedrich 
was  thirty-two  years  old,  brave,  keen,  firm,  and 
generous,  but  fiercely  proud,  violent,  and  self-"\villed. 
He  was  a  grand-looking  man,  with  fair  hair  and 
blue  eyes,  and  a  tinge  of  red  in  his  beard,  which 
made  the  Italians  call  him  Barbarossa. 

He  gave  Heinrich  the  Lion,  Bavaria  as  well  as 
Saxony,  formed  Austria  into  a  duchy  instead  of  a 
mark  county,  and  he  also  made  Windislav  of  Bo- 
hemia a  king  instead  of  a  duke.  He  married  Bea- 
trice, the  heiress  of  the  county  of  Burgundy,  which 

127 


128        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

meant  Provence,  with  its  capital  Aries.  Konrad 
had  never  been  crowned  Emperor,  and  thus  had  no 
power  in  Italy,  so  that  the  Lombard  cities  had 
grown  very  powerful,  and  were  used  to  govern 
themselves ;  the  nobles  were  like  little  robber  kings 
in  their  mountain  castles,  and  at  Rome,  a  priest 
named  Arnold  of  Brescia  had  stirred  up  the  people 
to  turn  out  the  Pope,  Adrian  IV.,  an  Englishman, 
and  set  up  a  Republic  in  imitation  of  the  old  Com- 
monwealth. 

Friedrich  felt  himself  called  on  to  set  all  tliis 
right.  He  came  over  the  Alps,  marched  into  Rome, 
seized  Arnold  of  Brescia,  and  had  him  executed, 
and  then  was  crowned  Emperor  by  Adrian  IV. 
The  people  of  Lodi  came  to  ask  his  help  against 
the  citizens  of  Milan,  who  had  conquered  them, 
pulled  down  the  walls  of  their  city,  and  forced 
them  to  leave  their  homes  and  live  in  villages. 
Friedrich  wrote  orders  that  Lodi  should  be  re- 
stored ;  but  the  Milanese  tore  his  letter  to  pieces, 
and  threw  it  in  the  face  of  his  messenger,  and  most 
of  the  Italian  cities  took  their  part.  The  Emperor 
blockaded  them,  and  cut  off  the  hands  of  any  un- 
fortunate peasant  who  was  caught  trying  to  bring 
them  provisions.  They  surrendered  at  last,  and  he 
made  them   swear   fealty   to   him,    and   left  them 


tRIEDRICH  I.  REFUSES  THE  iUI*ANESE  SUBMISSION. 


Friedrich  /.,  Barharossa.  131 

under  a  judge.  But  in  a  short  time  they  rebelled 
again,  declaring  they  would  give  themselves  to  the 
Pope  instead  of  the  Emperor.  Adrian  IV.  was 
dead,  and  some  of  the  Cardinals  elected  Alexander 
III.,  but  the  others  and  the  Roman  people  chose 
another  Pope,  who  called  himself  Victor  IV. 
Friedrich  called  on  both  to  appear  before  a  Council 
which  was  to  decide  between  them,  but  Alexander, 
knowing  himself  to  be  riglitfully  elected,  replied 
by  declaring  that  the  Emperor  had  no  right  to 
summon  the  successor  of  St.  Peter  before  a  Council. 
So  only  the  friends  of  Victor  came  to  it,  and  de- 
clared him  to  be  the  true  Pope.  Alexander  then 
excommunicated  both  Frietli-ich  and  Victor,  and 
Friedrich  came  in  great  wrath  over  the  Alps  to 
overthrow  the  Pope  and  punish  the  Milanese,  who 
liad  insulted  both  him  and  his  Empress  in  every 
way.  He  blockaded  the  city  again,  and  forced  it 
to  yield.  Before  the  day  of  surrender,  he  sent  his 
gentle  ^^ife  Beatrice  away,  lest  she  shoidd  move 
him  from  his  purpose,  and  then  all  tlie  cliief  citi- 
zens were  marched  out  with  their  thirty-seven  ban- 
ners and  the  great  standard  of  the  city,  which  had 
a  car  all  to  itself  when  it  went  out  to  battle,  and 
was  embroidered  with  a  Crucifix,  beside  wliich 
stood  the  figure  of  St.  Ambrose  giving  his  blessing. 


132        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

The  banners  were  tlurown  in  a  heap,  the  trumpets 
over  them,  at  the  Kaisar's  feet,  the  car  v/as  broken 
to  pieces,  and  the  unhappy  people  wept  so  bitterly 
that  even  Friedrich's  stern  warriors  shed  tears  of 
pity. 

He  told  the  citizens  that  they  should  have  such 
mere}"  as  agreed  with  justice,  and  called  a  diet  at 
Pavia  to  judge  them.  The  diet  decided  that  MUan 
ought  to  be  broken  up  as  Lodi  had  been,  the  wall 
thrown  down,  the  ditch  filled  up,  the  people  forced 
to  live  in  villages,  all  two  miles  from  the  ruined 
city  and  from  one  another,  and  each  A\ith  a  German 
governor.  The  people  took  some  of  their  property 
with  them,  but  much  was  forfeited  and  plundered, 
and  a  tenth  was  given  to  the  churches  and  convents 
of  Germany.  Koln  had  for  its  share  Avhat  were 
thought  to  be  the  relics  of  the  Wise  Men  from  the 
East,  whom  the  Germans  thenceforth  called  the 
Three  Kings  of  Koln.  Friedrich  then  appeared  at 
Pavia  in  his  crown,  which  he  had  sworn  never  to 
wear  again  till  Milan  had  been  punished,  and  he 
showed  much  favor  to  all  the  Ghibelline  cities  of 
Lombardy.  Then  he  marched  to  Rome,  while 
Alexander  fled  to  Benevento,  but  it  was  the  height 
of  summer,  and  a  terrible  pestilence  broke  out  in 
liis  army,  cutting  down  many  of  Friedrich's  near 


Friedrich  /.,  Barharossa.  135 

kindred  and  best  advisers,  and  great  numbers  of 
the  troops.  He  was  forced  to  retreat  into  Lombar- 
dy,  but  he  foimd  the  whole  country  in  insurrection, 
guarding  the  passes  of  the  Alps  against  him,  and  at 
Susa  a  party  of  armed  men  broke  into  his  chamber 
at  night,  and  he  had  only  just  time  to  escape  by 
another  door,  while  a  faithful  knight  named  Her- 
man of  Sieveneichen  threw  himself  into  the  bed  to 
receive  the  death-blow  while  liis  master  escaped. 
However  he  was  recognized,  and  though  in  their 
rage  the  Lombards  were  going  to  slay  him,  they 
respected  his  faithfulness,  and  he  was  spared. 

Germany  was  up  in  arms,  and  Friedrich  had  to 
subdue  the  rebellious  princes.  He  was  a  great 
ruler,  and  founded  Munich  and  several  other  great 
towns  at  home ;  but  in  the  meantime  the  cities  of 
Italy  had  united  with  the  Pope  against  him  in  what 
was  called  the  Lombard  League,  and  had  founded 
the  city  of  Alessandria  in  honor  of  it,  calling  it  by 
the  name  of  the  Pope.  Friedrich  crossed  the 
mountains  to  put  down  this  rising,  but  the  Lom- 
bards were  stronger  than  he  had  expected,  and  in 
the  midst  of  the  struggle,  at  his  greatest  need, 
Heinrich  the  Lion,  Duke  of  Saxony  and  Bavaria, 
refused  his  help,  probably  because  he  did  not  like 
fighting  against  the  Chui'ch,  but  declaring  that  he 


136        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany, 

was  too  old  for  the  campaign,  though  he  was  only 
forty-five,  wliile  the  Emperor  was  fifty-four. 
Friedrich  met  liim  at  Cliiavenna,  and  actually  knelt 
before  him  in  entreaty  not  to  ruin  his  cause  by 
leaving  him,  but  Heinrich,  though  distressed  at 
the  sight,  held  to  his  purpose,  and  rode  off  with 
his  vassals. 

Without  the  Saxons,  Friedrich  had  to  figlit  a 
battle  at  Lugnano,  where  the  Milanese  standard 
again  appeared  in  its  car,  and  the  Welfs  gained  a 
complete  victory.  Friedrich's  horse  was  killed 
under  him,  and  he  was  thought  to  be  slain,  so  that 
the  Empress  Beatrice  had  put  on  mourning  as  a 
widow,  before  he  appeared  again  at  Pavia,  having 
escaped  on  foot  by  by-paths. 

He  was  forced  to  make  peace,  and  went  to  meet 
the  Pope  at  Venice,  where  the  Doge,  in  full  pro- 
cession conducted  him  to  St.  Mark's  Church,  at  the 
door  of  which  Alexander  awaited  liim  with  all  the 
clergy.  The  Kaisar  knelt  to  kiss  the  Pope's  slip- 
per, and  muttered  in  Latin  (it  is  said),  "  Not  to 
thee,  but  to  Peter,"  which  the  Pope  hearing  an- 
swered with,  "  Both  to  me  and  to  Peter."  It  is 
also  said  that  Alexander  then  put  Ids  foot  on  Fried- 
rich's  neck,  quoting  the  promise  —  "  Thou  shalt  go 
upon  the  lion  and  the  adder;"  but  as  another  ac- 


Uill 


FRIEDRICH    KNEELING   TO    Hi-lNRlCll    THE    LION. 


Friedrich  I.,  Barharossa.  139 

count  says  he  shed  tears  of  joy  at  the  reconciliation, 
it  is  not  likely  that  these  insults  passed  between 
them.  The  question  was  then  finally  settled  that 
Bishops  might  be  named  by  the  prince,  but  that 
the  cathedi-al  clergy  should  have  the  power  of  ac- 
cepting or  rejecting  them,  and  that  though  their 
land  may  be  held  of  the  prince,  their  spiritual 
power  comes  only  through  the  Church,  and  is 
quite  independent  of  him.  The  Milanese  were  re- 
stored to  their  city,  and  Friedi-ich  went  home,  going 
on  his  way  to  Aries,  where  he  and  Beatrice  were 
together  crowned  King  and  Queen  of  Burgundy  — 
namely,  what  is  now  called  Provence  —  in  1178. 


CHAPTER  Xin. 

FRIEDRICH  I.,  BARBAROSSA  (contd.), 1174-1189. 

HEINRICH  VI., 1189-1197. 

WHEN  Friedrich  I.  came  back  to  German}'-, 
he  held  a  diet  at  Wurms,  and  summoned 
Heinrich  the  Lion,  Duke  of  Saxony  and  Bavaria, 
to  answer  for  his  treason,  rebellion,  and  many  other 
crimes.  One  of  these  was  that  in  the  middle  of  the 
night,  in  time  of  peace  and  friendship,  he  had  at- 
tacked the  town  of  Veringen,  where  the  bishop  of 
Freising  had  great  salt  works,  destroyed  them  and 
all  the  storehouses,  and  dragged  away  the  makers 
to  Munich. 

The  Duke  would  not  come,  saying  it  was  his 
right  to  be  judged  only  in  his  own  country,  so  an- 
other diet  was  held  at  Magdeburg,  but  he  would 

not  come  to  that,  nor  to  a  third  at  Goslau,  where 

140 


Friedrich  /..  Barbarossa.  141 

he  was  put  under  the  ban  of-  the  empire  —  that  is, 
made  to  forfeit  his  fiefs  and  honors,  and  declared 
an  outlaw,  for  ban  means  a  proclamation.  He  had 
friends,  however,  and  held  out  for  a  long  time,  but 
he  was  so  fierce  and  \iolent  that  he  offended  them 
all,  and  the  Kaisar  pushed  him  very  hard,  and  be- 
sieged his  city  of  BrunsAvick.  There  his  "svife,  who 
was  Matilda,  daughter  to  King  Henry  H.  of  Eng- 
land, was  lying  ill.  She  ventured  to  send  to  Fried- 
rich  to  ask  that  some  Avine  might  be  sent  in  for  her 
use,  and  he  answered  that  he  had  rather  make  her 
a  present  of  Brunswick  than  disturb  her.  He  was 
as  good  as  his  word,  for  he  drew  off  his  army,  but 
he  gained  so  much  upon  the  Lion,  that  at  last 
Heinrich  came  to  the  diet  at  Erfurt,  fell  on  his 
knees  before  the  Kaisar,  and  asked  pardon 

Friedrich  raised  him  kindly,  but  told  him  he  had 
himself  been  the  author  of  all  his  misfortunes.  He 
was  judged  to  have  forfeited  his  great  dukedoms, 
but  the  Kaisar  allowed  him  to  keep  the  Dukedoms 
of  Brunswick  and  Luneburg,  on  condition  that  he 
should  spend  three  years  in  exile  at  the  court  of 
his  father-in-law.  King  Henry  of  England.  Bruns- 
wick has  ever  smce  continued  to  belong  to  his  fam- 
ily, the  house  of  Welf  or  Guelf.  Part  of  Saxony 
was  given  to  Bernhard  of  Anhalt,  the  son  of  Al- 


1^^        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

brecht  the  Bear,  in  whos^  line  it  continued,  and  it 
is  from  these  two  houses  jf  Brunswick  and  Saxony 
that  our  English  royal  family  have  sprung.  Bava- 
ria was  given  to  Friedrich's  friend.  Otto  of  Wit- 
telsbach. 

Now  that  peace  was  made,  Friedrich  held  a  great 
festival  at  Mainz,  where  he  knighted  his  sons  and 
held  a  tournament,  to  which  came  knights  of  all 
nations,  forty  thousand  in  number.  A  camp  with 
tents  of  silk  and  gold  was  set  up  by  the  river-side, 
full  of  noble  ladies  who  came  to  look  on,  and  of 
minne-singers,  who  were  to  sing  of  the  deeds  of  the 
knights.  The  songs  and  ballads  then  sung  became 
famous,  and  there  was  much  more  of  the  spirit  of 
poetry  from  this  time  forward  in  Germany.  The 
Kaisar,  old  as  he  was,  took  his  full  share  in  the 
tuts  and  tournaments,  and  jousted  as  well  or  better 
than  his  tliree  sons. 

Heinrich.  the  eldest  of  these  sons,  had  already 
been  chosen  to  succeed  his  father,  and  was  the  first 
prince  who  was  called  King  of  the  Romans,  while 
the  'Kaisar  was  alive.  Friedrich  planned  a  grand' 
marriage  for  him.  The  Kings  of  Sicily,  who  were 
of  Norman  birth,  had  always  been  great  friends  of 
the  Popes,  and  sheltered  them  when  the  Emperors 
drove  them  out  of  Rome,  but  the  last  of  these,  of 


Heinrich    VI.  145 

the  right  line,  had  no  child,  and  had  only  an  aunt 
named  Constance,  who  had  always  lived  in  a  con- 
vent, though  it  does  not  seem  certain  whether  she 
was  really  a  nun.  Friedrich  used  to  say  that  Italy 
was  like  an  eel,  whicli  must  be  held  both  by  the 
head  and  tail  if  you  would  keep  it.  He  had  the 
head,  and  hoped  the  son  would  get  hold  of  the  tail 
by  marrying  Constance.  Her  nephew,  the  King, 
agreed  to  the  match,  and  Constance,  who  was 
thirty-four  years  old,  was  sent  to  meet  her  bride- 
groom at  Milan  with  a  hundred  and  twenty  mules 
carrying  her  marriage  portion.  The  Pope,  Urban 
III.,  was  very  angry,  and  deposed  all  the  Bishops 
who  had  been  at  the  marriage,  or  at  Constance's 
coronation,  and  fresh  struggles  were  just  beginning, 
when  all  Europe  was  shocked  by  the  news  that 
Jerusalem  had  been  taken  by  the  Saracens  under 
Saladin. 

The  Pope  and  the  Kaisar  both  laid  aside  their 
quarrels  to  do  all  they  could  to  rescue  the  Holy 
City,  and,  old  as  he  was,  Friedrich  prepared  to  go 
on  the  crusade.  He  took  his  two  younger  sons 
with  him,  and  a  great  army,  in  whicli  were  Leopold, 
Duke  of  Austria,  and  Konrad,  Markgraf  or  Mar- 
quess of  Monserrat.  Passing  tlirough  Constanti- 
nople, they  marched  through  Asia  Minor,  suffering 


146        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany 

mucli  for  want  of  food  and  water,  but  at  Iconium, 
where  with  his  uncle  Konrad  he  had  once  suffered 
such  a  sore  defeat,  Friedi'ich,  with  his  war-cry, 
"Christ  reigns!  Christ  conquers!"  so  dashed  on 
the  enemy  as  to  gain  a  glorious  victory.  But  only 
a  few  days  after,  as  he  was  bathing  in  the  cold, 
swift  river  Kalykadmus,  a  chill  struck  him,  and  he 
sank  into  the  rapid  current.  He  was  seventy  years 
old  when  he  was  thus  lost,  in  the  year  1190.  His 
body  was  found  and  buried  at  Antioch;  but  the 
Germans  could  not  believe  their  mighty  Kaisar  was 
dead,  and  long  thought  that  in  the  K^-ffhauser 
cave  in  Thiuingia  he  sat  with  all  his  knights  round 
a  stone  table.  Ids  once  red,  but  now  white,  beard 
growing  through  the  stone,  waiting  till  the  ravens 
shall  cease  to  fly  round  the  mountain,  and  Ger- 
many's greatest  need  shall  be  come,  when  he  will 
waken  up,  break  forth,  and  deliver  her. 

Friedrich's  second  son  and  namesake  fought 
bravely,  but  soon  caught  the  plague,  and  died  when 
only  twenty  years  of  age.  The  Duke  of  Austria 
and  Marquess  of  Monserrat  joined  the  other  body 
of  crusaders,  led  by  the  Kings  of  France  and  Eng- 
land, at  Acre,  but  Konrad  was  killed  by  an  Eastern 
assassin,  and  Leopold  was  affronted  by  King  Rich- 
ard wanting  him  to  assist  in  building  up  the  walls 


Konrad  III.  149 

of  Ascalon,  and  left  Palestine.  In  the  meantime, 
the  King  of  the  Romans,  Heinrich  VI.,  had  been 
fighting  hard  with  Heinrich  the  Lion,  who  had 
come  home  from  England  resolved  to  win  back 
what  he  had  lost,  but  all  in  vain.  His  son  Heinrich 
had  been  betrothed  to  Agnes,  daughter  to  the  Pfalz- 
graf  Konrad,  brother  to  Friedrich  I.,  and  when  the 
house  of  Welf  was  ruined,  she  would  not  give  up 
her  love  to  marry  the  King  of  France.  Her  mother 
favored  her,  and  sent  a  message  to  the  young  Hein- 
rich to  come  to  her  castle  in  her  husband's  absence. 
He  came  in  the  disgviise  of  a  pilgrim,  and  the  mother 
immediately  caused  them  to  be  married.  When 
her  husband  came  home  the  next  morning,  she  met 
him  with — ''My  lord,  a  noble  falcon  came  yester- 
day  to  your  tower,  whom  I  have  taken ! "  The 
two  presented  themselves,  the  Pfalzgraf  forgave 
them,  and  thus  peace  was  made,  and  the  old  Lion 
soon  after  died. 

Young  Heinrich  was  thus  able  to  interfere  on 
behalf  of  his  English  uncle,  Richard  the  Lion  Heart, 
when  he  had  been  shipwrecked  in  the  Adriatic  on 
his  way  from  the  Holy  Land,  and  while  trying  to 
pass  through  the  Tyrol  as  a  pilgrim  had  been 
seized  and  imprisoned  by  Leopold,  and  afterwards 
made  ever  to  the  Kaisar.     The  Pope  demanded  the 


150         Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

release  of  a  crusader,  wliose  person  ouglit  to  have 
been  sacred,  and  the  Kaisar  held  a  diet  at  Hagenau, 
at  which  Richard  was  called  upon  to  defend  him- 
self from  the  charge  of  having  murdered  Konrad 
of  Monserrat,  betrayed  the  cause,  and  other  crimes. 


HEINRICH   VI. 


Richard  spoke  with  such  grandeur  and  dignit^y  that 
even  Leopold  turned  aside  weeping,  and  the  Em- 
peror  sprang  from  liis  throne  and  embraced  ,'7un. 
After   this  his  ransom  was  accepted,  and   he    did 


Heinrich    VI.  151 

homage  to  Heiiiricli  VI.  as  Emperor  of  the  West, 
receiving  from  him  the  promise  of  the  kingdom  of 
Aries  to  add  to  his  duchy  of  Aquitaine. 

Heinrich  took  his  wife  into  Sicily  on  the  death  of 
her  cousin  Tancred,  and  they  were  there  crowned; 
but  he  showed  himself  a  harsh  and  cruel  ruler,  and 
very  avaricious.  He  went  Ijack  several  times  be- 
tween Sicily  and  Germany,  and  caused  his  little, 
son  Friedi-ich  to  be  elected  King  of  the  Romans, 
but  he  was  everywhere  hated.  He  was  planning  a 
ivar  with  the  Eastern  Emperor,  when,  after  hunt- 
ing all  day  near  Messina  in  the  heat  of  August,  he 
took  a  chill,  and  died  at  the  age  of  tliirty-one,  in 
the  year  1194.  The  Sicilians  rejoiced  publicly  at 
the  death  of  their  tyrant,  and  murdered  all  the 
Germans  they  could  find  in  the  country. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

PHILIP, 1198-1208. 

OTTO  IV., 1209-1218. 

LITTLE  Friedricli,  the  sou  of  Heinrich  VI.,  was 
only  three  years  old.  He  had  been  chosen 
King  of  the  Romans  as  soon  as  he  was  born,  but  the 
Welfs  declared  that  the  election  of  an  unbaptized 
infant  could  not  be  good  for  anything,  and  that 
there  must  be  a  fresh  choice. 

On  hearing  tliis,  Philip,  Duke  of  Swabia,  the  only 
surviving  son  of  Barbarossa,  left  his  sister-in-law 
Constance  to  secure  Sicily  and  Apulia  to  herself  and 
her  child,  and  hurried  back  to  the  diet.  There  the 
Waiblings  declared  that  it  was  no  use  to  try  to 
elect  an  infant,  and  that  if  Philip  wished  to  keep 
the  empire  in  his  family  he  muse  be  himself  elected. 
He  consented,  and  was  chosen  at  Muhlhausen  by 

the  Waiblings,  but  the  Welfs  met  at  Koln  and  chose 

152 


J*hilip.  153 

Otto,  Duke  of  Brunswick,  the  son  of  Henry  the 
Lion,  and  had  him  crowned  at  Aachen.  Philip  was 
crowned  at  Mainz,  but  only  by  the  Savoyard  Bishop 
of  Tarentaise,  and  the  same  year  the  Empress  Con- 
stance died  when  only  forty-three  years  old,  having 
had  her  little  son  Friedrich  Roger  crowned  King  of 
Sicily  and  Apulia,  and  placed  him  under  the  special 
protection  of  the  Pope,  whom  she  begged  to  become 
his  guardian,  and  to  watch  over  both  his  kingdoms 
and  his  education. 

The  Pope  at  that  time  was  Innocent  III.,  a  very 
great  man,  whose  chief  object  was  to  make  the 
power  of  the  See  of  Rome  felt  by  all  princes  ;  and 
as  the  first  Xorman  conqueror  had  asked  the  Pope 
to  grant  the  power  over  Sicily,  he  considered  the 
kingdom  a  fief  of  the  Roman  See,  and  took  charge 
of  it  and  of  the  little  king,  whom  the  Normans 
called  the  Child  of  Apulia. 

Innocent  at  the  same  time  thought  it  needful  to 
pronounce  between  the  three  princes,  who  had  all 
been  chosen  kings  of  the  Romans  —  Friedrich, 
Philip,  and  Otto.  He  threw  over  the  cliild's  elec- 
tion at  once,  and  likewise  declared  Philip's  unlaw- 
ful, but  he  saw  no  objection  to  Otto's,  and  Otto 
promised  his  full  support  and  faithfulness  to  Rome, 


154         Young  Folks'  History  of  G-ermany. 

and  to  give  up  possession  of  Countess  Matilda's  in- 
heritance. 

Germany  thus  was  divided  between  the  tAvo  kings 
till,  in  1208,  at  the  marriage  festival  of  his  niece 
Beatrice  and  Otto,  Duke  of  Meran  in  the  Tja-ol, 
Philip  was  stabbed  in  the  throat  —  no  one  knows 
why,  unless  it  Avas  the  deed  of  a  madman  or  drunk- 
ard—  by  the  Bavarian  Pfalzgraf,  Otto  of  Wittels- 
bach.  Philip  left  only  two  little  daughters,  whose 
mother  died  of  the  shock  a  few  days  after.  The 
bridegroom,  Otto  of  Meran,  promised  Beatrice 
never  to  rest  till  he  had  revenged  her  uncle's  death, 
and  Otto  of  Wittelsbach  was  hunted  down  among 
some  shepherds  as  he  was  playing  with  a  ram,  and 
his  head  cut  off. 

Otto  of  Brunswick  offered  himself  for  a  second 
election,  and  gained  it,  promising  to  marry  Philip's 
orphan  daughter  Beatrice,  who  at  eleven  years  old 
was  led  into  the  diet,  while  Otto  said  —  "  Behold 
your  queen !  Pay  her  due  honors  I '  and  then 
committed  her  to  the  care  of  her  sister  Agnes,  the 
Pfalzgrafin  of  the  Rhine,  while  he  went  to  Italy  to 
be  crowned,  and  to  try  to  bring  Lombardy  to  be  at 
peace. 

It  is  said  that  Innocent  III.  wept  for  joy  at  hav- 
ing to  crown   a   Welf  Emperor,  but  the  German 


../';'j(,|;|Liif,^„;«i(nnffl 
(!:■'    r  ■    •/,      


thf  l',.!"'",: 


MURDER    OF    PHILIP. 


Otto  IV.  157 

troops  were  unruly,  helped  themselves  to  whatever 
pleased  them  in  the  Roman  shops,  and  at  last  a  fight 
took  place  in  the  streets,  in  wliich  many  were  killed 
on  both  sides.  Also,  when  Innocent  claimed  the 
lands  which  Countess  Matilda  of  Tuscany  had  left 
to  the  Church,  the  Kaisar  refused  to  give  them  up 
according  to  his  promises,  and  the  quarrel  having 
begun,  he  most  unjustly  laid  claim  to  the  kingdom 
of  Sicily  as  having  been  cut  off  from  the  empire, 
and  actually  marched  into  the  Abruzzi. 

Young  Friedrich,  the  Pope's  ward,  defended  him- 
self bravely  in  Sicily,  and  Innocent,  justly  angered 
at  the  grasping  and  faithlessness  of  Otto,  excom- 
municated liim,  and  called  on  all  his  subjects  to  re- 
nounce their  allegiance.  Otto  was  obliged  to  hurry 
back  to  Germany,  where,  to  strengthen  himself,  he 
immediately  married  Beatrice  of  Hohenstaufen,  but 
only  a  fortnight  later  the  poor  little  bride  was  found 
dead,  poisoned,  it  was  supposed,  by  his  enemies. 
Otto  was  always  looked  on  as  belonging  to  liis 
uncles,  the  Kings  of  England,  and  thus  Philip 
Augustus  of  France  hated  him  as  one  of  that  race. 
Once,  when  a  boy,  Otto  had  been  at  Philip's  court 
with  his  uncle  Richard,  who  pointed  him  out  to  the 
King,  sa}'ing  that  one  day  that  boy  might  be  Em- 
peror.     Philip    laughed    scornfully,    and    said  — 


158         Youiiy  Folka'  History  of  Germany. 

"  When  that  comes  to  pass,  I  will  give  him  Orleans, 
Chartres,  and  Paris."  When  Otto  was  really 
Kaisar,  he  sent  to  put  Philip  in  mind  of  his  promise. 
Pliilip  replied  that  Orleans,  Chartres,  and  Paris 
were  the  names  of  three  little  puppies,  now  three 
old  hounds  wliich  he  sent  to  the  Emperor !  At 
this  time  Pliilip  was  the  friend  and  champion  of 
Innocent  III.,  wliile  King  John  of  England,  Otto's 
uncle,  was  NAith  his  kingdom  under  the  interdict, 
and  Otto  was  felt  to  be  following  him  in  liis  mis- 
deeds, rather  than  acting  as  a  Welf,  faithful  to  the 
Pope. 

Therefore  Friedrich  was  encouraged  to  make  an 
attempt  on  Germany,  and  received  the  Pope's  bless- 
ing and  recommendation  to  the  German  nation,  but 
only  on  condition  that  if  he  succeeded  he  should 
give  up  Apulia  and  Sicily,  for  the  Popes  did  not 
choose  to  have  the  Emperors  holding  both  ends  of 
the  eel  of  Italy.  Though  only  eighteen,  Friedrich 
was  married  to  Constance  of  Aragon,  and  had  a 
little  son  named  Ileinrich,  whom  he  carried  to  be 
crowned  at  Palermo  before  he  set  off  for  Germany. 

He  was  welcomed  by  the  Waibhngers  in  Lom- 
bardy,  but  he  took  no  army  with  him,  and  climbed 
the  j)asses  of  the  Alps  alone  with  a  guide,  so  as  to 
descend  into  his  own  duchy  of  Swabia,  where  the 


Otto  IV,  161 

people  were  glad  to  see  him.  At  Constance  the 
gates  were  shut  when  Otto  wanted  to  enter  the 
city,  and  all  the  south  of  Germany  soon  owned  the 
Apulian  child,  as  Otto  called  him.  He  then  went 
to  France,  and  made  a  league  with  Philip  Augus- 
tus, who  gave  him  twenty  thousand  marks  towards 
his  expenses.  He  took  the  sum  with  him  to  Mainz, 
and  when  his  chancellor,  the  Bishop  of  Speier, 
asked  where  he  would  have  it  kept,  he  answered  — 
"  Nowhere.  It  is  to  be  given  to  our  friends ;  "  and 
at  Mainz  all  the  Waiblinger  chose  him  as  King,  and 
paid  liim  homage. 

Otto  was,  however,  still  strong  in  Brunswick  and 
Saxony,  the  old  homes  of  his  line,  but  he  had  mixed 
himself  up  in  a  fierce  quarrel  of  the  Duke  of  Bra- 
bant, the  Count  of  Flanders,  and  the  other  border 
vassals,  with  Philip  Augustus,  and  joined  them  in 
a  great  attack  upon  France.  All  France  united 
against  them,  and  in  1214  there  was  fought  the 
terrible  battle  of  Bouvines,  in  which  Philip  gained 
a  complete  victory.  Otto  was  in  great  danger,  alone 
among  the  enemy,  when  a  French  knight  tried  to 
cut  him  down  with  a  battle-axe,  missed  him,  but  so 
wounded  his  horse  that,  mad  Avith  pain,  it  tore  back 
with  him  to  his  own  troops,  and  there  fell  dead. 
He    was  remounted,  but  he    could  not  bring  his 


162        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

troops  back  to  the  change,  and  was  forced  to  ride 
off  with  them,  Pliilip  scornfully  saying  —  "  We  shall 
see  nothing  more  of  him  but  liis  back,"  though  in 
truth  Pliilip  was  a  much  less  brave  man.  Otto's 
power  was  broken,  and  he  fled  to  Koln,  where  liis 
second  wife,  Marie  of  Brabant,  added  to  liis  troubles 
by  gambling  away  vast  sums  at  dice.  Being  unable 
to  pay  them,  he  rode  away  from  a  hunting  party  to 
Bruns\vick,  and  she  followed  as  a  pilgrim,  and  Koln 
opened  its  gates  to  Friedrich. 

Otto  lived  four  years  longer  in  Brunswick,  and 
on  liis  death-bed  sent  his  crown  by  the  hands  of  his 
brother  Heinrich  to  Friedrich.  He  was  then  ab- 
solved from  his  long  excommunication,  and  died  in 
1218.  He  had  nc^  children,  so  that  Brunswick  and 
Luneburg  went  to  his  nephew  Otto,  the  son  of  his 
brother  Wilhelm,  our  Queen's  ancestor. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

FRIEDRICH  II., 1218. 

TIj^RIEDRICH  II.,  "the  ApuHan  child,"  was  a 
-■-  wonderfully  able  and  briUiant  man,  brought 
up  in  all  the  old  learning  that  was  still  kept  up  in 
the  Italian  cities  by  the  greatest  scholars  of  the 
world,  and  with  all  the  fire  and  spirit  of  the  House 
of  Hohenstaufen,  together  with  the  keen  wit  of  the 
Sicihan  Normans.  Bred  in  Palermo,  he  preferred 
Italy  to  Germany,  and  as  soon  as  Otto  was  dead 
he  set  out  to  be  crowned  Kaisar  at  Rome,  after 
having  caused  his  young  son  Heinrich  to  be  chosen 
as  his  successor. 

His  wife  Constance  was  dead,  and  the  little  cru- 
sadins:  kinfjdom  of  JeriLsalein  had  again  fallen  to  a 
little  girl,  Yolande  de  Briennc,  whom  Friedrich 
married,    undertaking,    as   King   of  Jerusalem,  to 


164        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany, 

lead  a  grand   crusade   to  deliver  the  Holy  City, 
which  was  still  held  by  the  Saracens. 

The  Pope,  Honorius  II.,  was  not  pleased  with 
the  marriage,  and  taxed  Friedrich  with  breaking 
his  promise  of  preventing  Sicily  from  being  in  the 
same  hands  with  Germany,  since  he  had  caused  his 
only  son  to  be  elected  to  both  ;  but  Friedrich  an- 
swered that  he  would  take  care  to  settle  that,  and 
went  on  into  Sicily,  where  he  had  hard  work  in 
dealing  with  his  fierce  barons,  and  likewise  with  a 
colony  of  Saracens  who  had  settled  in  the  moun- 
tains and  on  the  sea-shore,  and  gave  much  trouble 
to  his  people  by  land  and  sea.  Friedrich  con- 
quered these  Saracens,  and  moved  tliem  into  the 
Apulian  cities  of  Lucera  and  Nocera,  treating  them 
so  kindly  that  he  won  their  hearts,  and  they  served 
liim  faithfully,  but  the  Italians  were  angered  by  his 
bringing  them  among  them.  There  was  at  this 
time  much  curious  learning  among  the  Saracens, 
especially  in  mathematics  and  chemistry.  Fried- 
rich delighted  in  such  studies,  and  this  raised  the 
report  that  he  was  half  a  Saracen  liimself.  More- 
over, he  was  not  leading  the  life  of  a  good  Chiis- 
tian  man,  but  was  giving  himself  up  to  all  sorts  of 
vice  and  luxury  at  Falermo.     The  Pope  urged  him 


Friedrich  II.  165 

to  begin  his  crusade,  and  he  sent  for  his  vassals 
from  Germany  to  join  him  in  it. 

Among  them  came  the  JMarkgraf  Ludwig  of 
Thuringia,  a  young  man  still,  who  had  been  mai- 
ried  ever  since  he  was  a  little  child  to  Elizabeth, 
the  daughter  of  the  late  King  of  Hungary.  The 
two  children  had  been  brought  up  together  at  the 
castle  of  the  Wartburg,  and  loved  each  other  dearly, 
though  Ludwig's  mother,  brother  and  sister  hated 
and  despised  Elizabeth  after  her  father  was  dead, 
and  tried  to  set  Ludwig  against  her  pious  and 
saintly  ways,  calling  her  the  gipsy  because  she  was 
dark  complexioned,  and  the  nun  because  of  her 
prayers.  Ludwig  loved  her  through  all,  and  up- 
held her  in  all  her  worlvs  of  charity,  when  she 
nursed  the  sick,  and  laid  them  in  her  own  bed,  and 
fed  orphan  children,  and  went  to  the  houses  to  feed 
the  bedridden  and  dress  their  sores.  There  was  a 
story  that  once,  when  he  met  her  coming  out  of  the 
castle  with  a  heavy  basket  fuU  of  broken  meat,  he 
asked  her  what  was  there.  She  smiled,  and  bade 
him  look,  and  it  was  full  of  roses.  Perhaps  this 
was  meant  to  show  how  sweet  are  deeds  of  love, 
for  Elizabeth  never  deceived  him,  nor  did  he  find 
fault  with  her  charities.  Both  were  still  very 
young  when  he  was  called  to  go  on  the  crusade 


166         Young  Folks'  History  of  Ciermany, 

and  great  was  his  grief  at  parting  with  her  and  liis 
little  cliildren.  With  him  went  the  cliief  German 
minne-singer  of  the  time,  Walter  of  Vogelwiede, 
and  great  numbers  of  noble  knights,  but  the  force 
could  not  be  collected  quickly,  and  those  who  came 
first  had  to  wait,  in  the  full  heat  of  the  summer,  at 
Otranto  and  Brindisi  to  embark,  till  sickness  began 
among  them,  and  when  at  last  they  did  embark  it 
only  became  worse.  Ludwig  of  Thuringia  saw 
wliite  doves  flying  round  his  mast  —  the  sure  sign 
of  death  in  his  family  —  and  died  before  the  fleet 
turned  back,  as  it  was  forced  to  do,  the  Kaisar 
himself  being  very  ill. 

The  Pope,  Gregory  IX.,  who  knew  Friedrich's 
proud  character  and  evil,  self-indulgent  life,  could 
not  believe  he  had  been  in  earnest  about  the  cru- 
sade, and  was  too  angry  and  impatient  to  inquire 
whether  his  illness  was  real  or  only  an  excuse, 
would  not  hear  his  messengers,  and  excommuni- 
cated him.  Friedrich  was  very  angry  at  the  injus- 
tice, and  it  drove  him  further  towards  unbelief, 
and  love  of  all  the  Church  condemned,  but  he  still 
went  on  with  his  crusade,  though,  before  he  sailed, 
his  wife,  Yolande  of  Jerusalem,  died  at  the  birth  of 
her  first  child,  who  s^as  christened  Conrad.  The 
Pope  did  not  approve  of  tliis  expedition  being  led 


^KK-"'''tu!H  U.   FUTiiMU  UN  XU£  CiiOWK  OF  Jluiil. 3AUUi. 


FrUdrich  11.  169 

by  one  who  was  still  excommunicate,  and  forbade 
the  Knights  Templars  and  Hospitallers  to  follow 
his  standard ;  but  instead  of  fighting  he  made  a 
treaty  with  Malek  el  Kameel,  the  Saracen  Sultan, 
by  which  he  made  a  ten  years'  truce,  arranged  that 
the  pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem  should  be  made  safe, 
and  that  the  Holy  City  should  be  put  into  his 
hands,  with  all  its  chiu"ches,  the  Moslems  only 
keeping  for  themselves  the  Mosque  of  Omar,  on 
the  site  of  the  old  Temple.  But  the  Pope's  friends 
thought  the  treaty  only  a  snare  to  get  Christians 
into  the  hands  of  the  Mahometans,  and  when 
Friedi'ich  marched  to  Jerusalem,  the  Holy  City 
was  laid  under  an  interdict  while  he  should  be 
there.  No  Holy  Communion,  no  Church  services 
took  place  when  he  visited  the  Church  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre,  and  he  took  the  crown  of  Jerusalem  off 
the  altar,  and  crowned  himself  with  it  with  his 
own  hands.  Then  he  came  back  to  Italy,  having 
learned  in  the  East  much  of  the  old  Greek  learning 
which  had  passed  to  the  Saracen  Arabs,  and,  in 
especial,  an  Arabic  translation  of  the  Ethics  of 
Aristotle,  which  was  afterwards  much  studied  in 
Europe. 

The  Pope  had  in  the  meantime  caused  Jean  de 
Brienne,  the  father  of  Friedrich's  late  wife,  to  raise 


170         Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

an  army,  and  seize  Apulia  and  Sicily  in  the  name 
of  liis  infant  grandson  Konrad,  to  whom  Friedrich 
was  bound,  the  Pope  said,  to  have  delivered  it  up. 
His  soldiers  were  called  the  Key-bearers,  as  being 
sent  forth  by  the  See  of  Rome,  and  bearing  the 
Jveys  of  St.  Peter  made  in  cloth  on  their  shoidders ; 
but  they  were  really  only  savage,  plundering  men- 
at-arms,  and  the  people  of  the  country  all  joined 
their  Emperor  gladly  in  expelling  them.  The 
]-*ope  on  tliis  gave  u^)  his  attempt,  and  peace  was 
made  between  him  and  the  Emperor,  in  which 
(jrregory  declared  that  the  treaty  with  the  Sultan 
was  the  best  that  could  have  been  made,  and  ab- 
solved Friedrich. 

The  two  had  a  conference  at  San  Germano,  but 
only  one  tiling  is  known,  that  was  there  settled. 
The  Germans  had  formed  an  order  of  soldier  monks 
like  the  Templars  and  Hospitallers  for  the  defence 
of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  but  as  there  were  jealousies 
between  the  three,  Friedrich  wished  the  Germans, 
who  were  called  Teutonic  Knights,  to  be  removed 
from  the  Holy  Land,  and  set  to  fight  with  the 
heathen  Sclavonians  in  the  lands  near  the  Baltic 
called  Borussia  (near  Russia)  or  Prussia.  Their 
Grand   Master,  Herman  von   Salza,  was   made  a 


Friedrich  II.  171 

prince  of  the  empire,  and  they  were  to  have  all  the 
lands  they  conquered. 

Friediich  stayed  on  in  Italy,  attending  to  a  uni- 
versity he  had  founded  at  Naples,  to  which  he  in- 
vited scholars  from  all  parts,  especially  the  famous 
Scotsman,  Michael  Scott,  who  translated  into  Latin 
his  Arabic  version  of  Aristotle,  and  was  looked  on 
by  all  the  ignorant  as  a  great  magician.  The 
greatest  scholar  who  grew  up  at  Naples  was  St. 
Thomas  Aquinas,  a  most  wonderful  teacher,  who 
turned  Aristotle's  arguments  to  teach  Christian 
truth.  Friedi'ich's  court  Avas  full  of  learning,  ele- 
jjance,  and  poetry,  but  chiefly  of  a  self-indulgent 
Idnd.  He  so  loved  minstrelsy  that  he  gave  the  city 
of  Orange,  in  his  kingdom  of  Aries,  to  a  troubadoiu*. 
The  minne-singer  Walther  of  Vogelwiede  died 
about  this  time,  and  left  lands  whose  produce  was 
to  be  given  to  feed  his  fellow-minstrels  the  birds  at 
his  tomb,  that  so  there  might  always  be  their  sweet 
music  round  him. 

It  was  a  time  of  very  great  beauty  in  everything 
—  j)oetry,  dress,  buildings,  and  all.  One  of  the 
loveliest  buildings  in  Germany  is  Marburg  Cathe- 
dral, which  was  built  by  Konrad  of  Thuringia, 
brother  of  Ludwig,  in  memory  of  the  "  dear  saint 
Elizabeth."     When  the  news  of  Ludwig's  death  had 


172         Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

come  home,  Konrad  and  liis  mother  had  driven  her 
out  wdth  her  five  babies,  homeless  and  wandering, 
and  seized  the  goverment,  but  the  barons  and 
knights  restored  her  little  son.  The  Emperor 
wished  to  marry  her,  but  instead  of  listening  to  his 
messages  she  went  into  a  convent,  where  her  con- 
fessor made  her  use  hard  discipline  with  herself,  and 
she  died  when  only  twenty-four  years  old.  Then 
her  brother-in-law  repented,  and  built  this  exquisite 
church  in  memory  of  her.  This  was  the  time  too 
when  the  two  orders  of  friars  founded  by  St.  Francis 
and  St.  Dominic  were  trying  to  teach  people  to  love 
the  world  and  its  delights  less,  and  to  turn  all  their 
learning  to  holiness  and  the  love  of  God. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

FRIEDRICH  II.,  1250.— Concluded. 

I  TRIEDRICH  II.  had  been  15  years  absent  from 
-■-  Germany  since  he  set  out  after  his  election  at 
Mainz.  His  eldest  son,  Heinrich,  who  had  been 
chosen  King  of  the  Romans  in  his  infancy,  was  sent 
to  reign  in  Germany,  even  as  a  mere  child,  under 
the  care  of  Ludwig,  Duke  of  Bavaria,  but  there  was 
so  much  crime  and  misrule  that  in  the  Dukedom  of 
^^estphalia  Bishop  Engelbert  revived  a  strange 
secret  tribunal  called  the  Vehmegericht  of  Vehm, 
which  is  said  to  have  dated  from  ancient  rites 
around  the  Irmansul.  Members  were  sworn  in 
secretly,  and  met  at  night.  Judges  were  chosen 
from  among  them,  and  before  them  persons  were 
tried  for  their  crimes,  and  if  found  guilty  were  sure 
to  be  found  hanging  on  trees,  a  dagger  stuck  be- 
neath, and  the  letters  carved,  S.  S.  G.   G.  (stock, 

stone,  grass,  green),  the  meaning  of  which  no  one 

173 


174        Young  Folks'  Hietory  of  Germany. 

knew.  This  Velime  was  much  dreaded,  and  did 
much  good  in  keeping  down  evil-doers,  when  the 
regular  courts  of  law  were  weak. 

As  Heinrich  grew  up  he  became  discontented, 
and  thought  his  father  ought  to  resign  the  empire 
to  liim,  and  only  keep  Sicily  and  Apulia.  The 
Duke  Ludwig  of  Bavaria  Avas  miu'dered  while  tak- 
ing an  evening  walk  on  the  bridge  of  Kelheim,  it  is 
said,  by  an  idiot,  whom  he  had  teased,  but  the 
3^oung  king  declared  that  it  was  by  one  of  the 
Eastern  assassins  sent  by  liis  father,  and  Friedricli 
aud  his  people  suspected  Heiniich  liimself. 

So  many  complaints  were  sent  to  the  Emperor 
that  he  summoned  Ids  son  and  the  German  princes 
to  a  diet  at  Ravenna,  and  there  tried  to  set  mattersi 
straight  between  them,  intending  to  come  back  to 
Germany  as  soon  as  he  had  arranged  the  affairs  of 
Lombardy,  but  before  he  could  do  so  Heinrich 
broke  out  into  open  rebellion,  assisted  by  liis 
brother-in-law,  Friedrich,  Duke  of  Austria,  and  laid 
siege  to  Wm-ms.  The  Kaisar  again  crossed  the 
Alps,  aud  being  joined  by  all  the  loyal  Germans, 
soon  crushed  the  rebellion,  and  forced  Heinrich  to 
come  and  ask  pardon.  This  was  at  once  granted, 
but  the  wretched  young  man  was  found  to  be 
tr}  ing  to  poison  liis  father,  and  was  therefore  sent 


Friedrich  11.  177 

as  a  prisoner  to  Apiilia,  and  was  moved  about  from 
castle  to  castle  there  until  his  death, 

Friediich  remained  in  Germany,  and  took  as  his 
third  wife,  Isabel,  the  sister  of  Henry  III.  of  Eng- 
land, sending  a  splendid  embassy  to  betroth  her, 
and  going  to  receive  her  himself  at  Wiu-nis,  where 
they  were  married  in  presence  of  four  kings  and 
eleven  dukes,  all  sovereign  princes.  Tlie  festivities 
are  said  to  have  been  even  more  splendid  than  those 
at  his  grandfather's  diet  at  Mainz,  and  her  English 
attendants  were  infinitely  amazed  by  the  elephants 
and  camels  which  Fiiediich  had  brought  from  the 
East. 

Friedrich  was  called  back  to  Italy  by  another 
disturbance  in  Lombardy,  where  the  cities,  with 
Milan  at  their  head,  had  formed  a  leagrue  against 
him.  He  caused  liis  son  Konrad  to  be  elected 
King  of  the  Romans,  and  crossed  the  Alps  with  liis 
army,  and,  being  joined  by  all  the  Ghibellines  in 
Northern  Italy,  he  beat  the  Milanese  at  Corunuova. 
They  hoped  at  least  to  have  saved  then'  beloved 
standard,  but  there  had  been  heavy  rain,  the  car 
stuck  fast  in  a  bog,  and  though  they  tried  to  carry 
off  its  gilt  cross  an<l  ornaments,  the  Germans  came 
too  fast  ujwu  them,  ^iiul  thoy  were  forced  t<j  leave 
it  in  all  its  bcautv.     Friediich   had    it  drawn  into 


178        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

Rome  in  triumph  by  an  elephant,  and  placed  in  the 
Capitol ;  but  the  war  was  not  ended,  for  Friedrich 
required  the  Lombards  to  submit  without  making 
any  terms,  and  they  chose  rather  to  defend  them- 
selves from  city  to  city. 

They  knew  that  the  wishes  of  the  Pope  were  for 
them,  for  the  Pope  was  displeased  at  Konrad,  the 
heir  of  Sicily,  being  made  king  of  the  Romans,  so 
that  the  southern  kingdom  would  be  joined  to  the 
empire,  contrary  to  the  Emperor's  promise.  There 
was  another  younger  son  of  Friediich  named  Hein- 
rich,  but  called  in  German  Heinz,  and  in  Italian 
Enzio,  a  very  handsome  youth  of  twenty,  whom 
Friedrich  married  to  Adelais,  the  heiress  of  Sar- 
dinia, and  made  king  of  that  island.  But  Sar- 
dinia had  belonged  to  Countess  Matilda,and  Greg- 
ory declared  it  was  part  of  the  inheritance  of  the 
Church,  and  could  not  be  given  away. 

On  the  very  Palm  Sunday  of  1239  that  Friedrich 
was  holding  a  great  tournament  at  Padua,  Gregory 
excommunicated  him  again,  and  accused  him  of 
having  uttered  a  most  horrid  blasphemy.  This  he 
denied  with  all  his  might,  sending  in  liis  confession 
of  faith,  wliich  agreed  with  that  of  all  the  Christian 
Church,  though  there  is  no  3oubt  that  he  had  a 
careless,  witty  tongue.     The  Pope  did  not  consider 


Friedrich  12.  179 

that  he  had  cleared  himself,  and  tried  to  find  an 
Emperor  to  set  up  against  him ;  but  St.  Louis  of 
France  did  not  think  he  was  fairly  treated,  and 
would  not  let  any  French  prince  be  stirred  up  to 
attack  him. 

In  the  meantime  things  were  going  badly  in  Ger- 
many. Young  Konrad  was  learning  the  German 
vice  of  hard  drinking,  and  not  making  himself  re- 
spected ;  and  a  horrid  Mogul  tribe,  like  the  Huns 
of  old,  were  overrunning  Germany,  and  doing  ter- 
rible damage,  till  they  were  beaten  on  the  banks  of 
the  Danube.  This  stopped  them,  and  though  they 
laid  Hungary  waste,  they  did  not  venture  again  into 
Germany. 

Gregory  smnmoned  a  council  of  the  Church  of 
Rome  to  consider  of  the  Emperor's  conduct.  The 
chancellor,  Peter  de  Yineis,  tried  to  persuade  the 
German  clergy  not  to  go,  telling  them  that  at  Rome 
they  would  find  "  broiling  heat,  putrid  water,  bad 
food,  swarms  of  gnats,  air  so  thick  that  they  could 
grasp  it,  and  a  disgusting  and  ferocious  race  of  men  ; 
that  the  Pope  would  be  too  cunning  for  them,  and 
that  their  lives,  their  goods,  and  their  souls  would 
all  be  in  danger."  A  great  many  were  stopped  by 
this,  and  as  to  the  rest,  Friedrich  had  a  fleet  on  the 
Mediterranean,  and  had  twenty-two   shiploads  of 


180         Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

Bishops  and  priests  seized  and  carried  to  Naples, 
where  it  is  said  that  he  caused  liis  cliief  foes  among 
them  to  be  put  to  death  by  hunger,  and  all  were 
rouglily  handled  and  robbed,  though  the  French,  and 
English  were  sent  home  in  safety. 

Gregory  IX.,  who  was  nearly  a  hundred  years 
old,  died  soon  after  this  failure  ;  the  next  Pope 
lived  only  seventeen  days,  and  Innocent  IV.,  who 
was  next  elected,  though  hitherto  the  Emperor's 
friend,  could  not  but  go  on  with  the  old  policy  of 
the  Popes  taking  the  part  of  the  Lombard  league, 
and  trying  to  reduce  the  power  of  the  Emperor.  As 
Friedrich  said,  when  he  heard  of  the  election,  he 
had  only  lost  a  friend,  for  no  Pope  could  be  a  Ghi- 
beUine.* 

There  was  an  attempt  to  make  peace,  but  it  only 
made  the  breach  wider,  and  Innocent  fled  from 
Rome  to  Lyons,  which  did  indeed  belong  to  the 
empii'e,  but  was  mucli  more  out  of  Friedi-ich's  reach 
than  Rome,  and  then  he  called  another  council,  to 
which  the  bishops  could  come  by  land.  There  all 
the  Emperor's  offences  were  again  brought  up 
against  him,  and  he  was  again  excommunicated  and 
dei)0.sed.     When  he  heard  of  it  he  had  all  his  crowns 

*  Wt'Ifs  and  Waiblings  in  Gonnany,  Guelfs  and  Ghibeilines 
in  Italy. 


Friedrich  12.  181 

placed,  before  liim,  and  smiled  as  he  said  —  "  These 
are  not  lost,  nor  shall  be  till  much  blood  has  been 
shed." 

St.  Louis  tried  to  make  peace,  but  in  vain.  A 
few  Guelf  bishops  were  persuaded  to  elect  Heinrich 
of  Thuringia,  brother-in-laAV  of  St.  Elizabeth,  but  he 
was  defeated,  and  died  of  his  wounds.  Then 
Wilhelm,  Count  of  Holland,  was  set  up,  Friedrich 
struggling  all  the  time  against  the  Guelfs,  both  in 
Germany  and  Italy,  with  the  lielp  of  Enzio  of  Sar- 
dinia, and  Manfred,  the  son  of  his  last  wife,  Bianca 
di  Sancia,  and  his  favorite  among  all  his  children. 
But  while  he  was  ill  at  Capua,  he  was  warned  that 
his  physician  had  been  bribed  by  his  chancellor, 
Peter  de  Vigni,  whom  he  had  always  trusted,  to 
poison  liim  in  a  draught  of  medicine.  He  bade  the 
doctor  drink  half  before  his  eyes.  The  man  stum- 
bled, and  let  most  fall  out  of  the  cup.  The  rest 
was  by  Friedrich's  orders  given  to  a  condemned 
criminal,  who  died  of  it  at  once.  The  chancellor 
was  then  imprisoned  and -blinded,  and  in  the  agony 
thus  caused,  dashed  his  head  against  the  walh 
Friedrich  was  bitterly  grieved  at  such  treachery  in 
one  whom  he  had  so  trusted.  His  son  Enzio  was 
made  prisoner  by  the  citizens  of  Bologna,  who  would 
not  ransom  him ;  and  when  St.  Louis  was  taktin 


182        Young  Folks'  History  of  G^ermany. 

prisoner  by  the  Sultan  in  Egypt,  the  Pope  accused 
Friedrich  of  having  betrayed  him.  This  accusation 
seems  to  have  grieved  Friedrich  more  than  anything 
that  had  gone  before.  He  was  an  old  man,  his 
strength  Avas  worn  out,  and  his  last  illness  came  on 
at  Luceria.  His  son  Manfred  attended  to  him,  and 
the  Archbishop  of  Palermo  absolved  him,  and  gave 
him  the  last  sacraments  before  his  death  on  Christ- 
mas-day, 1250.  He  was  a  great  and  noble,  but  not 
a  good  man,  though  he  would  have  been  far  better 
if  those  who  ought  to  have  cared  for  soul,  had  not 
cared  for  power  more  than  for  their  duty. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

KOOTIAD  IV. 1250-1254 

WILIIELM, 1254-1256. 

RICHARD, 1256-1257. 

TV^  V  ^NRAD  had  already  been  crowned  King  of 

-*-  ^  Grermany  as  well  as  King  of  Apulia  and  Sic- 
ily, and  his  father  had  decreed  that  Manfred  should 
act  as  y\  :jeroy  of  the  latter  countries,  desiring  also 
that  any  ands  taken  from  the  Papal  See  should  go 
back  to  it.  But  Innocent  IV.  would  not  acknowl- 
edge Konr.vd,  and  gave  all  liis  support  to  Wilhelm 
of  Holland  as  King  of  Germany ;  while  he  made  a 
present  of  Sicily  and  Apulia  to  little  Edmund,  the 
second  son  of  Henry  IH.  of  England,  undertaking 
to  conquer  it  for  liim  if  the  English  would  send 
liim  money.  This  they  did,  but  Manfred  was  too 
strong  for  the  Ptipal  troops,  and  kept  the  kingdoms 
for  his  brother. 

Konrad  was  vory  nearly  murdered  in  his  bed  at 

183 


184         Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

Regensburg,  and  the  Count  of  Eberstein,  who  took 
his  place  while  he  escaped,  was  actually  killed. 
He  was  a  grasping,  haughty  man,  not  much  liked, 
and  he  offended  Manfred  by  harshness  to  his 
mother's  relations.  In  a  great  battle  at  Oppen- 
hein  Wilhelm  gained  the  victor}-,  and  Konrad  soon 
after  died  of  a  fever,  when  onl}^  five-and-twenty,  in 
the  year  1254.  His  wife  was  Elizabeth  of  Bavaria, 
and  she  had  one  little  son  named  Konrad,  but  who 
is  generally  called  Conradin.  She  knew  there  was 
no  hope  of  getting  any  of  the  kingdoms  of  his 
family  for  him  while  he  was  still  a  child,  so  she 
took  him  to  her  father's  court,  and  begged  the 
Pope  to  adopt  him,  as  Friedrich  II.  had  been  adopt- 
ed ;  but  Innocent  would  not  accept  any  of  the  House 
of  Swabia,  and  the  Guelfs  were  all  of  the  same 
mind.  Enzio  had  tried  to  escape  from  prison,  but 
a  tress  of  his  long  golden  hair  caught  in  the  lock  of 
the  door  and  betrayed  him,  so  that  he  was  pursued, 
and  brought  back  to  die  in  captivit}^ ;  and  Manfred, 
who  was  crowned  King  of  Sicily  and  Apulia,  was 
conquered  and  slain  by  Charles,  Count  of  Anjou, 
to  whom  tlie  Pope  gave  away  the  two  kingdoms. 

Germany  was  in  a  most  disturbed  state,  for  Wil- 
helm was  only  half  owned  as  King  of  the  Romans. 
The  most  noted  act  of  his  life  was  the  laymg  of  the 


Conrad  IV.  185 

first  stone  of  the  splendid  Cathedral  of  Koln,  "but 
he  was  so  much  disliked  that  the  men  of  Koln  set 
the  house  where  he  was  sleeping  on  fire,  in  hopes 
of  destroying  him ;  and  his  own  vassals,  the  Fyies- 
landers,  rose  against  him.  It  was  winter,  and  he 
hoped  to  cross  the  ice  to  put  them  down,  but  as  he 
was  crossing  a  swamp  the  ice  gave  way  under  his 
horse's  feet,  and  while  he  was  struggling  in  the 
frozen  mud,  the  Frieslanders  came  up  and  slew  him 
without  knowing  him,  in  January,  1256.  During 
all  these  wars  the  power  of  the  King  in  Germany 
had  been  much  lessened.  The  great  dukes  and 
prince  bishops  seized  on  one  claim  after  another 
till,  within  their  own  lands,  they  became  like  kings 
and  Friedrich  II.,  by  what  was  called  a  Pragmatic 
Sanction,  had  confirmed  their  rights,  because  he 
needed  their  help  in  his  wars  against  the  Pope  and 
Lombard  League.  Also  these  princes  had  quite 
left  off  calling  on  any  of  the  nobles  or  people  to 
take  part  in  choosing  their  king,  and  the  seven  chief 
among  them  always  elected  him.  They  were  the 
three  grand  chancellors  of  the  empire,  being  the 
Archbi.'hojjs  of  Mainz,  Koln,  and  Trier,  with  the 
King  of  Bohemia,  grand  cup-bearer;  the  Duke  of 
Bavaria,  liigh  steward ;  the  Duke  of  Saxony,  grand 
marshal,  and   the  Pfalzgraf  of  the  Rhine.     These 


186        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

were  called  electors,  in  German  Kiirfursten,  and 
in  the  diet  sat  apart  as  a  separate  house  or  college. 
Not  only  had  the  priQces  and  nobles  grown 
powerful  in  the  absence  of  the  Emperor,  but  the 
cities  had  become  very  strong.  IVIany  of  them  had 
trades  and  manufactures,  and  they  governed  them- 
selves by  their  own  town  councils,  training  their 
men  to  arms,  and  fortifying  themselves  so  as  to  be 
a  match  for  the  nobles.  Those  who  owned  no  lord 
but  the  Kaisar  called  themselves  free  Imperial 
cities,  and  made  leagues  together  to  defend  one 
another.  The  most  famous  of  these  leagues  was 
called  the  Hansa  — nobody  quite  knew  why — and 
took  in  eighty  towns,  of  which  Lubeck  and  Ham- 
burg were  among  the  chief.  They  had  fleets  and 
armies,  made  treaties,  and  were  much  respected. 
Every  citizen  in  these  cities  was  trained  to  work  at 
it  trade.  First  he  was  an  apprentice,  then  a  jour- 
neyman ;  after  that  he  was  sent  out  for  what  was 
called  Hs  wander-year,  to  visit  other  towns  and  im- 
prove himself  in  his  art,  and  on  his  return  he  miglit 
be  sworn  into  the  guild  of  his  trade  and  be  a  mas- 
ter workman,  who  could  be  chosen  to  be  a  guild- 
master  or  burgomaster,  and  sit  in  the  town  council, 
which  met  in  the  beautiful  Guild  Hall  or  Rath-haus. 
The  giiilds  formed  trained  bands,  which  went  out 


Wilhelm,  187 

to  war  under  the  banner  of  their  craft,  and  the 
widows  and  orphans  of  those  who  died  young  were 
well  taken  care  of.  These  cities,  too,  built  splen- 
did cathedrals,  such  as  Ulm,  Augsburg,  Strasburg, 
and  many  more.  In  these  cities  there  was  some  order 
during  the  evil  days  that  followed  Friedrich's  death. 
When  Wilhelm  perished,  Konrad  of  Hochstatten, 
Archbishop  of  Koln,  advised  the  other  electors  to 
choose  a  rich  prince  who  could  give  them  great 
rewards,  and  yet  who  should  have  no  lands  within 
Germany,  so  that  he  could  not  be  able  to  subdue 
them  all,  and  keep  them  in  check.  The  brother  of 
Henry  III.  of  England,  Richard,  Earl  of  Cornwall, 
was  pointed  out  to  him  as  the  best  person,  having 
immense  wealth  from  the  tin  mines  of  Cornwall, 
and  being  connected  with  the  empire  through  his 
wife,  Sancha  of  Provence.  Richard,  glad  of  the 
honor  done  him,  sent  thirty-two  wagons,  all  filled 
■\nth  gold,  to  buy  the  votes  of  the  electors;  but 
Arnold  of  Isenberg,  the  Elector  Archbishop  of 
Trier,  was  jealous  of  his  brother  of  Trier,  and  set 
up  as  a  candidate  Alfonso  X.,  King  of  Castille, 
whose  mother  was  daughter  to  the  murdered  King 
Philip  of  Hohenstaufen.  At  Frankfort,  on  the  13th 
of  January,  1257,  Richard  was  chosen  King  of  the 
Romans  by  four  electors,  and  on  the  1st  of  April 


188         Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

Alfonso  was  chosen  by  tliree,  and  the  two  candi- 
dates agreed  that  the  Pope  should  decide  between 
them ;  but  he  put  oif  doing  so  year  by  year,  and  in 
the  meantime  both  princes  and  towns  grew  more 
independent,  and  the  cities  in  Italy  ruled  them- 
selves, and  almost  forgot  that  the  Emperor  was 
their  master. 

Alfonso  was  called  in  his  own  country  the  Em- 
peror, but  he  never  came  to  Germany.  Richard 
did  try  to  do  sometliing  for  his  own  cause,  and 
spent  vast  sums  in  gifts  to  the  Germans.  He  made 
three  visits  to  Germany,  and  was  crowned  at 
Aachen,  where  he  kept  court  till  he  had  to  go  and 
aid  his  brother  in  his  struggles  with  the  English 
barons,  and    there   was   made   prisoner   at  Lewes. 

In  the  meantime  young  Conradin  had  grown  up 
to  man's  estate,  and  a  J^arty  of  Italians,  who  hated 
Charles  of  Anjou,  invited  him  to  come  and  win  his 
father's  crown.  He  set  forth  with  liis  friend.  Fried- 
rich  of  Austria,  and  an  army  of  Swabians  and  Ba- 
varians. He  was  only  twenty,  very  handsome,  win- 
ning, and  graceful,  and  all  the  Gliibelline  Lombards 
joined  him  with  delight.  The  Pope,  Clement  V., 
forbade  him  to  proceed,  and  excommunicated  him, 
but  remained  at  Viterbo,  while  Conradin  A\-as  wel- 
comed at  Rome,  and  his  path  strewed  with  flowers. 


Richard.  191 

Then  he  went  on  to  Apulia,  but  Charles  had 
already  crushed  liis  friends  there,  and  in  a  terrible 
battle  at  Sarcola  routed  his  army.  Conradin  and 
Friedrich  rode  off,  and  meant  to  renew  the  fight  in 
Sicily,  but  they  were  betrayed  to  Charles  by  a 
noble  Avhom  they  trusted.  The  King  collected  a 
court  of  judges,  who  at  his  bidding  condemned  the 
two  young  men  to  death  as  robbers.  Only  one  of 
all  was  brave  enough  to  declare  that  such  a  sen- 
tence would  be  a  murder,  and  he  was  not  heeded. 
The  two  friends  were  tried  and  condemned  to  death 
without  a  hearing,  and  were  playing  at  chess  when 
they  were  told  they  were  to  die  the  next  day. 
They  prepared  with  great  firmness  and  tender  affec- 
tion, and  were  taken  to  a  scaffold  on  the  sea-shore  of 
the  lovely  Bay  of  Naples,  in  front  of  a  church,  Charles 
sitting  at  a  window  where  he  could  sef»  the  execu- 
tion. The  sentence  was  read,  and  Conradin  spoke 
a  few  words,  owning  himself  a  sinnei  before  God, 
but,  in  challenge  of  his  innocence  toward  man,  he 
threw  down  his  glove  among  the  people.  With  a 
commendation  to  his  Father  in  heaven,  and  a  cry 
of  sorrow  for  his  mother,  he  laid  his  b'^ad  on  the 
block  and  died,  and  Friedrich,  bursting  into  tears 
for  his  friend,  was  executed  the  next  moment. 
The  cruel  deed  was  done  in  1266. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

RODOLF,  . .'. 1278. 

THS.  German  princes  enjoyed  the  freedom 
from  all  higher  authority  that  arose  from 
theii  having  two  absent  foreign  rival  kings,  but 
Germany  was  in  a  dreadful  state  of  confusion,  and 
bad  customs  sprang  up  which  lasted  for  several 
centuries.  Fist-right,  which  really  meant  the 
right  of  the  strongest,  was  the  only  rule  outside  the 
cities,  and  even  the  bishops  and  great  abbots  were 
often  fierce  fighting  men.  The  nobles  lived  in 
castles  perched  on  rocks  like  eagles'  nests,  and 
often  lived  by  plunder  and  robbery,  and  if  two 
families  had  a  quarrel,  one  chief  sent  the  other  a 
letter,  called  a  feud-brief,  giving  a  list  of  all  the 
wrongs  he  considered  liimsolf  or  liis  people  to  have 
undergone,  and  defying  the  other  and  all  his  kin- 
dred, after   which,  each  party  was  free  to  do  the 

192 


'mmmjmimi'i0  i^'''' 


Rodolf,  195 

other  all  the  harm  in  his  power.  It  was  said  that 
no  noble  cared  to  learn  to  write  except  to  sign  a 
feud-brief. 

All  the  learning  and  civilization  that  the  great 
Saxon  and  Swabian  Kaisars  had  brought  in  was 
passing  away,  except  in  the  cities.  The  nobles 
were  growing  more  of  boors,  and  giving  way  to 
their  great  vice — drunkenness,  and  Germany  was 
falling  behind  all  other  nations  in  everything  praise- 
worthy. If  an  enemy  had  come  against  the  coun- 
try it  must  have  been  overcome,  and  Ottokar,  King 
of  Bohemia,  was  so  powerful  as  to  be  very  danger- 
ous. So  when  Richard  of  England  died  in  1271, 
the  Pope,  Gregory  X.,  finding  that  no  king  was 
chosen,  sent  the  electors  word  that  if  they  did  not 
choose  a  king  he  should  send  them  one.  There- 
upon they  chose  Count  Rodolf  of  Hapsbui"g.  He 
was  a  good  and  brave  man,  whose  possessions  lay 
in  Elsass,  on  the  Swiss  border,  and  had  fought 
bravely  luider  Ottokar  against  the  Magyars  of 
Hungary.  He  was  very  devout,  and  it  was  told  of 
him  that  once  when  he  was  riding  to  Baden  he  met 
a  priest  on  foot  carrying  the  Holy  Eucharist  to  a 
dying  man  over  miry  roads  and  torrents.  He 
placed  the  priest  on  his  steed  and  led  liim  on  his 
way,  and  when  the  sick  man's  house  was  reached. 


196        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany, 

and  the  priest  would  have  restored  the  horse,  he 
said,  "  God  forbid  tliat  I  should  ever  again  ride  to 
battle  the  beast  that  hath  carried  the  Body  of  my 
Lord,"  and  he  gave  it  to  be  used  by  priests  going 
to  visit  the  sick  as  long  as  it  lived. 

After  a  battle  in  which  he  lost  his  horse,  the  man 
who  had  killed  it  was  about  to  be  put  to  death  but, 
he  saved  him,  saying,  "I  saw  liis  courage.  So 
brave  a  knight  must  not  be  put  to  death." 

Rodolf  was  fifty-five  years  old  when  he  was 
chosen  to  be  King  of  Germany,  and  a  better  choice 
could  hardly  have  been  made.  When  he  was  crowned 
at  Aachen,  no  one  knew  what  had  become  of  the 
sceptre,  but  he  took  the  crucifix  from  the  Altar 
and  made  his  oath  upon  it  instead,  saying  that  the 
symbol  of  redemption  was  a  fit  rod  of  justice. 
Gregory  X.  came  to  meet  him  at  Lausanne,  and 
kneeling  before  him,  he  promised  obedience  to  the 
See  of  Rome,  where  he  was  to  be  crowned  the  next 
year.  Ottokar,  King  of  Bohemia,  would  not  now 
even  acknowledge  him,  and  thought  himself  quite 
able  to  make  himself  independent.  He  had  seized 
Austria  when  its  Duke  Friedrich  died  with  Con- 
radin,  had  robbed  the  poor  youth's  mother  of 
Styria  and  had  bought  Carinthia,  all  without  sane- 


Rodolf.  197 

tion  from  the  Diet,  and  he  was  a  terrible  tj^rant  to 
all  under  liira. 

All  Germany  took  part  against  him,  and  he  was 
obliged  to  give  up  Austria,  St}Tia,  and  Carniola, 
and  come  to  do  homage  for  Bohemia  and  Moravia 
in  the  island  of  Labau  on  the  Danube.  While  lie, 
in  splendid  array,  was  kneeling  before  Rodolf  in 
his  old  grey  suit,  the  tent  over  them  was  suddenly 
taken  away,  and  all  the  armies  behind  them. 
Ottokar  thought  this  a  great  insidt,  and  as  soon  a:-* 
he  could  raise  his  troops  again,  began  another  war, 
and  there  was  a  terrible  battle  at  Marchfield,  near 
Vienna,  where  Rodolf  gained  a  great  victory,  and 
cut  the  Bohemians  to  pieces.  He  tried  to  save 
Ottokar's  life,  but  the  corpse  was  found  pierced 
with  seventeen  wounds.  Ottokar's  Queen  sub- 
mitted, and  his  little  son  Wenzel  remained  King  of 
Bohemia,  but  Austria,  Styria,  and  Carniola  were 
given  by  Rodolf  to  liis  sons  Albrecht  and  Rodolf. 

Rodolf  tried  to  revive  the  power  of  the  Empire 
over  Tuscany  and  Lombardy,  but  he  found  that 
he  was  not  strong  enough ;  and  rather  than  quarrel 
with  the  Pope,  he  gave  up  to  Rome  all  that  it  had 
so  long  claimed  of  Countess  Matilda's  legacy. 
When  he  was  asked  why  he  did  so,  he  said,  "  Rome 
is  like  the  lion's  den  in  the  fable ;  I  see  the  footsteps 


198        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

of  many  animals  who  go  thither,  but  of  none  who 
come  back." 

He  was  very  much  beloved  at  home.  He  trav- 
eled through  Germany  listening  to  every  com- 
plaint. When  his  men  would  have  kept  some 
peasants  from  coming  near  him,  he  said,  "For 
Heaven's  sake  let  them  alone.  I  was  not  made 
King  to  be  shut  up  from  mankind."  He  always 
lived  and  dressed  plainly,  and  when  he  heard  some 
of  his  knights  grumbling  at  the  badness  of  the  rye 
bread  and  sour  wine  he  was  sharing  with  them,  he 
dismissed  them  from  liis  service  as  too  dainty  for 
him. 

At  Mainz  one  winter  morning  he  was  walking 
about  in  his  old  grey  dress,  and  turned  in  to  a 
baker's  shop  to  warm  liimself  at  the  fire,  but  the 
woman  crossly  said,  "  Soldiers  have  no  business  in 
poor  women's  houses."  "  Be  content,  good  woman," 
he  said,  "  I  am  an  old  soldier,  who  have  spent  my 
all  in  the  service  of  that  fellow  Rodolf,  who  still 
suffers  me  to  want."  "  It  serves  you  right,"  said 
f,he  woman,  and  she  began  hotly  to  abuse  the 
iCaisar,  saying  that  she  and  all  the  bakers  in  the 
town  were  ruined  by  his  means,  and  to  get  rid  of 
nim,  she  dashed  a  pail  of  water  on  the  fire  and 
smoked  him  out.     When  he  sat  down  to  his   own 


Rodolf.  199 

dinner  he  ordered  a  boar's  head  and  bottle  of  wine 
to  be  taken  to  the  baker's  wife  as  a  present  from 
the  old  soldier.  Of  course  tliis  brought  in  the 
woman,  crying  out  for  forgiveness,  which  he  grant- 
ed her,  but  on  condition  that  she  would  tell  the 
company  all  she  had  said  of  him.  And  as  he  put 
an  end  to  much  extortion  on  the  part  of  the  tax- 
gatherers,  and  made  the  country  peaceful,  so  that 
the  peasants  could  safely  sow  and  reap,  no  doubt 
the  bakers  soon  had  no  reason  to  complain.  He 
destroyed  sixty-six  nobles'  castles  in  Thuringia 
alone,  and  hmig  twenty-nine  nobles  at  once  at 
Erfurt,  and  was  equally  severe  to  ill-doers  every- 
where but  not  too  severe,  and  the  saying  was,  "  He 
was  the  best  warrior  of  his  day ;  he  was  the  truest 
man  that  ever  won  the  office  of  a  judge." 

He  had  a  large  family,  three  sons  and  seven 
daughters,  but  one  son  was  drowned,  and  the 
second,  Rodolf,  who  was  married  to  the  daughter 
of  King  Ottokar,  died  in  -1290,  before  the  birth  of 
his  only  child,  Johann.  After  this,  the  Kaisar 
tried  to  have  Albrecht,  the  only  remaining  son, 
chosen  King  of  the  Romans  in  liis  own  lifetime, 
but  the  electors  said  they  could  not  support  two 
Kings  at  once,  and  put  the  matter  off  to  another 
diet.     Rodolf  was  seventy-four  years  old,  and  did 


200         Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany^ 

not  live  to  see  that  promised  diet,  dying  on  the  15th 
of  July,  1291,  at  Germesheim,  on  the  Rhine.  He 
had  never  been  actually  crowned  by  the  Pope,  but 
was  generally  called  Kaisar.  He  was  one  of  the 
best  rulers  Germany  ever  had,  and  was  the  founder 
of  the  House  of  Hapsburg  in  Austria. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

ADOLF, , 1291-1298. 

ALBRECHT, 1298. 

G"*  ERHARD,  Archbishop  Elector  of  Mainz,  per- 
^  suaded  the  other  electors  to  choose  his  kins-- 
man,  Adolf  of  Nassau,  who  is  said  to  have  beeii 
the  poorest  prince  who  ever  sat  on  the  throne  d 
Germany.  He  was  fierce  and  grasping,  and  made 
himself  much  hated. 

When  Edward  I.  of  England  was  going  to  war 
with  France  he  made  an  alliance  with  Adolf  and 
offered  him  a  siun  of  money  to  equip  an  army  to 
gain  back  the  kingdom  of  Aries.  But  Adolf  spent 
the  money  in  buying  Meissen  and  Thuringia  from 
the  Landgraf  Albrecht,  called  the  Degenerate,  who 
had  misused  his  wife,  Margarethe,  the  daughter  of 
Friedrich  II.,  and  taken  her  cliildren  from  her. 
When  she  parted  with  them,  instead  of  kissing  the 

201 


202         Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

eldest,  she  gave  him  a  fierce  bite  on  the  cheek,  that 
the  scar  might  ahvays  remind  him  of  her  wrongs. 
The  two  boys  tried  to  flee  from  their  father,  but 
were  taken,  and  would  have  been  starved  in  prison 
if  the  servants  had  not  had  pity  on  them,  fed  them, 
and  set  them  free. 

They  soon  found  friends  to  reclaim  the  inherit- 
ance wliich  their  father  had  sold,  and  half  Germany 
joined  them,  for  Adolf's  hired  soldiers  were  de- 
testably cruel.  Once  the}^  caught  two  poor  women, 
tarred  them  all  over,  rolled  them  in  feathers,  and 
showed  them  off  in  the  camp  as  a  couple  of  strange 
birds,  and  when  the  Count  of  Hohenstaufen  com- 
plained to  the  King,  he  was  rudely  driven  away. 
The  two  brothers  were  beaten  in  battle,  but  they 
kept  their  own  inheritance,  for  the  Thuringians  de- 
fended themselves  bravely  for  three  years,  and  at 
the  end  of  that  time.  Archbishop  Gerhard  was  so 
ashamed  of  Adolf  as  to  persuade  the  other  electors 
that  he  had  justly  forfeited  the  Empire,  and  they 
chose  Albrecht  of  Hapsburg,  Duke  of  Austria,  the 
son  of  the  good  Rodolf,  in  his  stead. 

There  was  a  great  battle  near  Wurms  between 
Albrecht  and  Adolf.  One  liistory  says  that  they 
met,  and  that  Adolf  cried,  "  Here  you  shall  abandon 
to  me  Empire  and  life,"  to  wliich  Albrecht  answered, 


Alhrecht.  208 

"Both  are  in  the  hands  of  God,"  giving  him  such  a 
blow  that  he  fell  from  his  horse  and  was  killed  by 
some  of  the  Austrians.  His  knights  were  so  heavily 
armed  that  when  once  their  horses  were  killed  they 
could  not  get  up  but  lay  helpless,  till  some  one  came 
either  to  stab  them  or  put  them  to  ransom.  This 
was  in  1298. 

Albrecht  was  elected  over  again  and  crowned  at 
Aachen.  He  was  very  tall  and  grim-looking,  and 
made  the  more  frightfid  by  the  loss  of  an  eye.  His 
great  desire  was  to  use  his  power  over  the  Empire 
to  make  his  family  great,  and  on  the  death  of  Wen- 
zel,  the  last  of  the  line  of  Bohemian  kings,  he 
obtained  that  his  son  Rodolf  should  be  chosen  to 
succeed  him.  Rodolf  would  not  have  been  a  bad 
ruler  left  to  himself,  but  his  father  forced  him  to  be 
so  harsh  that  the  Czechs  rebelled,  and  when  he  died 
in  the  midst  of  the  war  with  them,  they  declared 
they  would  rather  have  a  peasant  for  their  king 
than  his  next  brother  Friedrich,  and  chose  Heinrich 
of  Carinthia,  the  husband  of  the  late  King's  sister. 

Albrecht  did  one  good  thing,  in  forcing  the  Arch- 
bishop Elector  of  Mainz  and  the  Pfalzgraf  to  lower 
the  veiy  heavy  toUs  they  took  from  every  one  who 
sailed  along  the  Rhine.  Archbishop  Gerhard,  who 
viewed  himself  as  a  sort  of  king-maker,  said  he  had 


204        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

only  to  blow  his  horn  to  call  up  as  many  Kaisars  as 
he  pleased ;  but  Albrecht  was  too  strong  for  him, 
and  the  Pope  would  not  help  him. 

Next  Albrecht  attacked  the  Landgraf  of  Thur- 
ingia,  Friedrich  with  the  bitten  cheek.  Tidings 
came  to  the  Wartburg  that  the  King  was  coming 
with  a  large  army,  and  the  young  Landgraf  had  to 
flee  with  his  wife  and  their  newly-born  child.  The 
little  one  bf  gan  to  cry  violently  when  the  enemy 
were  almost  overtaking  them,  and  the  Landgraf 
made  his  little  troop  stop,  and  kept  the  enemy  at 
bay  while  his  baby  was  fed  and  pacified.  He  was  a 
giant  in  size  and  strength,  as  is  shown  by  the  suit 
of  armor  stUl  preserved  at  the  Wartburg,  xnrl  his 
skill  proved  sufficient  to  drive  out  the  Austrians, 
and  save  his  inheritance. 

Another  attempt  of  Albrecht  was  to  use  his 
power  as  King  of  the  Romans  to  make  the  mountain- 
eers of  Switzerland  subject  to  his  own  dukedom  of 
Austria.  The  three  little  cantons  of  Uri,  Schwitz, 
and  Unterwalden  were  bitterly  grieved  by  the 
harshness  of  his  governor,  Gesler,  who  lived  at  Alt- 
dorf,  in  a  castle  which  he  called  Zwing  Uri  (Force 
Uri),  and  three  men,  Furst,  Melchtal,  and  Werner, 
met  at  night  and  swore  to  raise  the  country  against 
the   tyrants,   each   gaining   secretly  as  many  oon- 


Albrecht.  205 

federates  as  he  could.  According  to  the  cherished 
Swiss  story,  tlie  outbreak  was  brought  on  at  hist  by 
Gesler's  setting  up  his  hat  in  the  market-place  at 
Altdorf,  and  msisting  that  all  the  peasants  should 
make  obeisance  to  it.  When  Wilhelm  Tell,  the 
best  archer  of  Uri,  passed  it  unheeding,  he  was 
seized  and  made  to  ransom  his  life  by  shooting  an 
apple  placed  on  his  little  son's  head.  He  succeeded, 
but  on  being  asked  why  he  had  another  arrow  in 
his  belt,  he  answered  that  had  he  slain  his  child,  he 
should  have  used  it*  to  pierce  the  bailiffs  heart. 
Gesler  in  his  rage  declared  that  he  should  be  placed 
where  he  would  never  see  the  sun  or  moon  again, 
and  was  carrying  him  off  in  a  boat  across  the  Lake 
of  Lucerne,  when  a  tempest  made  it  needful  to  un- 
bind the  only  steersman  who  could  save  the  lives  of 
the  crew.  Tell  brouglit  the  boat  to  shore,  and  then 
leaped  ashore  and  fled.  Watchmg  his  opportunity 
from  behind  a  hollow  tree,  as  the  officers  came  in 
persuit  of  him,  he  shot  Gesler  dead,  then  rushed 
away  to  liis  comrades,  Avho  at  once  broke  forth, 
seized  several  castles  by  surprise,  pulled  down 
Zwing  Uri,  and  on  the  Gtli  of  January,  1308,  raised 
the  banner  of  the  Swiss  Confederation,  and  prepared 
for  defence. 

The  rising  is  certain,  but  great  doubts  exist  as  to 


206        Young  Folhs'  History  of  Germany. 

the  story  of  Tell,  which  is  found  in  no  chronicle  of 
the  time,  and  which  historical  critics  now  declare 
to  be  an  old  story  like  that  of  Siegfried  and  the 
dragon  at  Wurms,  only  placed  at  a  later  time. 

Albrecht  swore  to  be  revenged  on  the  Swiss 
boors,  and  was  collecting  his  forces  when  his 
nephew,  Johann,  the  son  of  his  brother  Rodolf, 
came,  as  he  had  often  done  before,  to  demand  pos- 
session of  his  father's  inheritance,  as  he  was  now 
nineteen  j'^ears  old.  Albrecht  scoffingly  threw  him 
a  wreath  of  flowers,  saying  those  were  the  fit  toys 
for  his  age.  Johann  vowed  vengeance,  and  ar- 
ranged his  plan  with  four  nobles  whom  Albrecht 
had  offended.  The  king  was  on  his  way  to  Rhein- 
felden,  and  was  in  sight  of  the  Castle  of  Hapsburg, 
when  he  had  to  be  ferried  over  the  river  Reuss. 
Johann  and  his  party  managed  to  cross  in  the  first 
boat  with  him,  leaving  the  rest  of  his  train  on  the 
other  side  of  the  river.  Then,  crying,  "  Wilt  thou 
now  restore  my  inheritance?"  Johann  stabbed 
him  in  the  neck,  and  three  of  the  others  also  struck ; 
then  all  fled,  and  left  him  dying,  Avith  his  head  in 
the  lap  of  a  poor  woman.  They  took  refuge  in 
Switzerland,  but  the  confederates  would  have  noth- 
ing to  do  with  murderers,  and  the  four  nobles  were 
given  up  to  justice.     The  King's  family  insisted  on 


Alhrecht.  207 

their  punishment  being  that  most  cruel  one  of  being 
broken  on  the  wheel.  The  one  of  the  party  who 
had  not  struck  Albrecht,  Rudolf  von  der  Wart, 
shared  the  same  horrid  death,  but  was  comforted 
and  tended  through  all  the  long  anguish  by  liis 
faithful  wife  Gertrude.  Johann  the  Parricide,  as 
he  was  called,  struck  with  remorse,  after  long 
wandering,  came  to  the  Pope,  who  gave  him  ab- 
solution, and  he  ended  his  life  in  a  convent.  Al- 
brecht was  killed  in  1308. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

HEmmCH  VII., 1308-1313. 

LUDWIG  v.,   1313-1347. 

AT  the  time  of  Albrecht's  death,  Philip  the 
Fair  of  France  had  forced  Pope  Clement  V. 
to  come  to  live  at  Avignon,  and  do  liis  bidding  in 
everytliing.  Philip  made  Clement  command  the 
Electors  to  choose  Charles,  Count  of  Valois,  his 
own  brother,  but  they  would  not  hear  of  another 
stranger.  Nor  would  they  hear  of  another  king  of 
the  house  of  Hapsburg,  but  chose  instead  Heinrich, 
Count  of  Liitzenbui'g,  the  little  castle,  more  com- 
monly called  Luxemburg,  who  was  brother  to  the 
Archbishop  of  Trier. 

He  had  never  thought  of  becoming  King  of  the 
Romans,  and  was  much  amazed  when  the  tidings 
reached  him,  but  he  set  himself  to  fulfil  his  duties, 
and  was  one  of  the  best  men  wlio  wore  the  crown 
of  Karl   the   Great.     The   foiu-  sons  of  Albrecht 

208 


Eeinrich   VII.  209 

came  to  ask  investiture  of  their  father's  hereditary 
(lomiaions,  and  he  advised  them  not  to  meddle 
with  Austria,  which,  he  said,  had  been  fatal  to  five 
kings.  They  in  return  advised  him  not  to  be  the 
sixth  king  to  whom  it  should  be  fatal,  and  he  ended 
by  giving  it  to  Friedrich,  the  eldest  of  them,  on 
condition  that  Switzerland  should  be  declared  in- 
dependent of  the  duchy,  and  that  they  should  assist 
him  in  his  plans  as  to  Bohemia  and  Italy. 

Heinrich  of  Carinthia  had  turned  out  a  cruel 
tyrant,  and  the  Czechs  hated  liim.  He  had  shut 
up  Elizabeth,  the  sister  of  Wenzel,  the  last  king  of 
Bohemia,  in  a  castle,  whence  they  had  delivered 
her,  and  then  offered  her  to  the  King  of  the 
Romans  for  his  son  Johann.  He  easily  drove  out 
the  Carintliian,  and  the  marriage  took  place  when 
the  lady  was  twenty-two  and  her  bridegroom  four- 
teen. She  was  a  wild,  rough,  uncivilized  being,  and 
Johann,  who  was  a  gentle,  graceful,  kniglitly 
prince,  never  was  happy  with  lier,  and  often  left 
her  to  rule  her  own  kingdom,  while  he  joined  any 
warlike  enterprise  that  miglit  be  afoot. 

Hemrich  was  resolved  to  restore  the  old  power 
of  the  empire  in  Italy,  and  to  free  Rome  from  the 
interference  of  the  French.  In  1310  he  crossed  the 
Alps,  and  took  the  cities  of  Lombardy  that  tried  to 


210        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

hold  out  against  him,  then  went  on  to  Rome,  where 
he  found  the  city  divided  between  two  factions, 
one  who  held  for  him,  the  other  who  were  in  the 


MEDIEVAL   COSTUMES. 


interest  of  the  French,  and  had  hoped  to  keep  him 
out  by   the  help  of  the    French    King's  cousin. 


Heinrich    VII.  211 

Robert,  King  of  Naples.  Heinrich,  however, 
gained  the  Capitol,  the  Colosseum,  and  the  Chui'ch 
of  St.  John  at  the  Lateran  Gate,  but  he  was  re- 
pulsed from  the  Vatican  and  from  St.  Peter's. 
The  Pope  had  been  obliged  to  send  three  Cardinals 
with  a  commission  to  crown  him,  and  this  was  done 
at  the  Church  of  St.  John,  but  the  enemy  actually 
shot  arrows  into  the  choir,  which  fell  on  the  altar 
while  the  Kaisar  was  kneeling  before  it.  He  soon 
after  took  his  troops  to  Tivoli,  to  avoid  the  un- 
wholesome summer  air  in  Rome.  He  shewed  much 
justice  and  wisdom,  and  the  best  Italians  began  to 
look  on  him  as  a  perfect  head  to  the  State,  such  as 
they  had  always  hoped  for.  He  was  going  to  in- 
vade Naples,  because  King  Robert  stirred  up  all 
the  Guelfs  in  Italy  against  him,  when  he  died  sud- 
denly on  the  24th  of  August,  1313.  One  account 
says  that  a  priest  actually  poisoned  him  with  the 
sacred  Chalice,  of  which  Emperors  partook  in  right 
of  their  consecration,  and  that,  when  he  discovered 
what  had  been  done,  he  said,  "In  the  Cup  of  Life 
thou  hast  offered  me  death  ;  fly  before  my  people 
can  take  thee,"  and  that  his  reverence  for  the  holy 
Elements  prevented  him  from  using  any  means  of 
saving  liis  life.  His  grandson,  however,  declartjd 
that  he  did  not  believe  the  story.     Any  way,  Ger- 


212        Young  Folks''  History  of  Germany. 

many  and  the  Italian  Ghibellines  had  a  great  loss 
in  the  good  Kaisar  Heinrich  VII. 

The  electors  met  at  Frankfort,  each  with  an 
army  of  knights  to  support  liis  choice.  Five,  with 
Johann  of  Luxemburg,  King  of  Bohemia,  at  their 
head,  chose  Ludwig,  Duke  of  Bavaria,  whose 
mother  was  a  daughter  of  Rodolf  of  Hapsbm-g,  and 
the  other  two,  Friedrich,  Duke  of  Austria,  son  to 
his  eldest  son.  Ludwig  was  crowned  at  Aachen, 
and  Friedrich  at  Koln.  Ludwig  held  most  of  the 
north,  Friedrich  most  of  the  south.  Neither  could 
concern  himself  about  Italy  at  all,  and  Germany 
fell  back  into  horrid  misrule  and  disorder,  earth- 
quake, famine,  and  pestilence  making  the  distress 
much  more  dreadful.  The  Swiss,  too,  beat  the 
Austrians  in  a  terrible  battle  at  Morgarten. 

At  last  the  two  cousins  fought  a  di-eadful  battle 
at  Mulildorf  in  1322.  Friedrich  thought  the  vic- 
tory was  his,  when  he  saw  a  fi-esh  force  advancing, 
and  supposed  that  it  was  a  body  of  men  led  by  his 
brother  Leopold  prepared  to  rejoice  with  him,  but 
it  proved  to  be  a  Bavarian  troop,  under  one  Sifred 
Schwepperman,  who  came  suddenly  down  on  the 
tired  Austrians,  mowing  them  down  like  grass. 
One  fiimily  lost  twenty-three  members.  Ludwig, 
who  had  thouglit  lihuself  beaten,  was  amazed  when 


Ludwig    V. 


213 


first  young  Heinrich  of  Hapsburg  was  brought  to 
him  as  a  prisoner,  then  the  Duke  of  Lorraine,  then 
Friedrich  himself. 
That  evening  the 
steward  came  to 
say  tliat  he  liad 
nothing  for  the 
King's  supper  but 
eggs,  and  very  few 
of  them.  "An  egg 
a-piece,"  said  Lud- 
wig, "and  two  for 
faithful  Schwep- 
perman.  If  I  sleep 
in  my  camp  to- 
night, it  is  owing 
toSifred!"  These 
words  were  graven 
on  Sifred's  tomb, 
and  an  egg  was 
blazoned  on  t h e 
family  shield. 

Ludwig  received  Friedrich  with  the  words,  "  Sir 
cousin,  you  are  welcome,"  and  sent  him  to  the 
Castle  of  Trausnitz,  his  brother  Leopold  still  trjing 
to  maintain  liis  cause.     Pope  John  the  XXIL,  still 


HEINRICH    VU. 


214        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany, 

in  Avignon,  laid  Germany  under  an  interdict  be- 
cause Ludwig  Imd  been  made  King  of  the  Romans 
without  his  sanction,  but  the  Franciscan  fiiars  were 
on  Lud^vig's  side,  and  continued  to  minister  to  the 
people.  After  three  years,  Ludwig  came  to  visit 
Friedrich  in  his  prison,  and  reminding  him  of  their 
near  relationship,  proposed  that  they  should  reign 
jointly,  both  being  called  Kings  of  the  Romans, 
and  their  signatiu'es  changing  places  every  day. 
This  was  agi'eed  to,  and  though  the  Pope  dissolved 
the  treaty,  the  two  cousins  held  faithfully  to  it,  but 
it  did  not  save  the  life  of  Friedrich's  brother  Leo- 
pold, who  had  been  pining  to  death  ever  since  the 
battle  of  Muhldorf,  grieving  for  not  having  come 
up  in  time. 

Ludwig  entered  Italy,  was  crowned  at  Pavia 
Asith  the  iron  crown,  and  set  up  a  Pope  of  his  own, 
who  crowned  him  at  Rome.  Friedrich  died  in 
1330,  and  Ludwig,  as  the  only  Kaisar,  held  a  great 
diet  at  Reuse  on  the  Rhine,  where  the  princes  de- 
clared the  Roman  Emperor  to  be  the  highest  power 
on  earth,  and  to  be  chosen  only  by  the  Electoral 
princes  of  Germany. 

Tliis  became  the  law  of  the  land,  and  LudAvig 
seems  to  have  thought  himself  head  of  spiritual 
matters  as  well  as  temporal,  for  he  dissolved  the 


Ludwig     V. 


215 


marriage  of  IMargarethe  Maultasch,  or  Wide-mouth, 
the  heiress  of  the  Tirol,  with  the  second  son  of 
King  Johann  of  Bolicmia,  and  gave  her  to  his  own 
second  son,  Ludwig,  whom  he  had  made  Markgraf 
of  Brandenburg.  This  deed  made  good  men,  who 
had  hitherto  thought  him  hardly  used,  turn  against 
him,  and  they  were 
also  jealous  when 
he  made  another 
son,  named  Wil- 
helm,  Count  of 
Holland.  He  wav- 
ered too  in  his  al- 
liance with  Ed- 
ward HI.  of  Eng- 
land, at  one  time 
making  him  his 
Vicar  in  the  Low 
Countries,  and  then 
turning  against 
him. 

The  electors  met 
in  1344,  and  chose 
a  new  King  of  the 
Romans,  Karl  of 
Luxembm^,     the 


216         Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany, 

eldest  son  of  King  Johann  of  Bohemia,  and  grand- 
son to  Heinricli,  but  the  greater  part  of  the  country 
adhered  to  Ludwig,  and  in  truth  Karl  was  more 
French  than  German.  His  name  was  really  Wen- 
zel,  but  he  had  been  sent  in  his  youth  to  the  court 
of  liis  aunt,  the  wife  of  Charles  IV.  of  France,  who 
had  given  him  his  name,  which  is  Karl  in  Germany, 
and  his  sister  Gutha,  or  Bonne,  as  the  French  called 
her,  was  married  to  Jean,  the  heir  of  France.  His 
election  at  first  only  turned  the  Germans  against 
him,  and  he  and  Ms  father,  now  blind,  both  left  the 
country,  and  fought  under  the  French  standard 
against  Edward  HI.  at  Crecy,  where  Johann  was 
killed,  and  Karl  fled  from  the  field. 

The  next  year,  1347,  Ludwig  of  Bavaria  died 
suddenly  in  the  middle  of  a  bear  hunt. 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

GUXTHER, 1347-1347. 

KARL  lY., 1347-1378. 

T^ARL  IV.  was  looked  on  in  Germany  as 
-'-  ^  almost  a  Frenchman,  and  some  of  the  Elec- 
tors chose  Count  Gunther  of  Schwartzenburg  in 
his  stead.  Gunther  was  a  good  old  man  and  much 
respected,  but  he  died  immediately  after  his  election, 
and  it  Avas  thought  that  he  had  been  poisoned. 
After  attending  his  funeral  in  full  state,  Karl  was 
crowned  at  Aachen. 

The  Pope  much  mshed  to  get  back  to  Rome 
from  Avignon,  but  was  afraid  of  getting  under  the 
power  of  Germany  as  he  was  now  under  that  of 
France,  so  he  very  cautiously  treated  with  Karl. 
A  commission  was  sent  to  crown  the  Emperor  at 
Rome,  but  only  on  his  promise  to  stay  there  no 

longer  than  for  one  month,  without  arms  or  army* 

217 


218        Young  Folks'  History  of  Crermany, 

a  promise  which  the  Ghibellines  thought  unworthy 
of  one  who  called  himself  the  Roman  Emperor. 

Karl  was  said  to  be  the  father  of  Bohemia,  his 
hereditary  kingdom,  but  the  step-father  of  Ger- 
many. He  sold  the  crown  lands,  and  he  also  sold 
titles  and  honors  to  the  nobles,  thus  greatly  weak- 
ening future  Kaisars,  and  adding  to  the  power  and 
lawlessness  of  the  counts  and  barons,  who  heeded 
him  little.  Besides,  the  empire  was  visited  b}''  the 
Black  Death,  the  horrible  disease  that  raged  all 
over  Europe,  and  was  specially  dreadful  in  Ger- 
many, where  whole  villages  were  left  without 
an  inhabitant,  and  even  the  cats,  dogs,  and  pigs  died. 
People  treated  tliis  visitation  in  different  ways. 
One  set  declared  it  was  owing  to  the  Jews,  and 
persecuted  them  frightfully,  2000  of  them  being 
burned  in  one  pile  in  Strasburg  alone.  Others 
more  rightly  thought  that  the  pestilence  was  a 
visitation  for  the  sins  of  Christians,  but  supposed 
that  penitence  might  best  be  shown  by  scourging 
themselves.  An  order  called  Flagellants  was 
formed  for  the  purpose,  and  men  and  boys,  stripped 
to  the  waist,  went  through  the  streets  in  the  towns 
singing  litanies,  wliile  each  beat  the  man  in  front  of 
him  with  rods  or  scourges  till  he  was  streaming 
with  blood.     The  wisest  people  were  the  women, 


Karl  IV,  219 

chiefly  in  Flanders,  who   banded   together,  under 
the  name  of  B^guines,  to  nurse  and  tend  the  sick. 

In  1356  Karl  held  a  great  diet  at  Nuremburg,  at 
which  was  drawn  up  the  Edict  that  was  called  the 
Golden  Bull,  from  the  golden  ball  or  bubble  in 
which  its  seal  is  enclosed.  It  is  a  very  noted  doc- 
ument, for  it  fixed  the  constitution  of  the  Kingdom 
of  Germany  and  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire, 
making  seven  Electors,  three  spiritual  and  four 
temporal,  and  declaring  that  each  in  his  own  prov- 
ince should  be  a  sovereign  prince,  with  no  appeal 
from  liis  decisions,  except  to  the  Kaisar  himself. 
The  three  spiritual  Electors  were  the  Archbishops 
of  Mainz,  Koln,  and  Trier ;  the  four  temporal  were 
the  King  of  Bohemia,  the  Margraf  of  Brandenburg, 
the  Pfalzgraf  of  the  Rhine,  and  the  Duke  of 
Saxony.  It  was  pubHshed  in  the  presence  of  the 
Emperor  on  liis  throne,  and  the  next  year  another 
diet  was  held  at  Maiiiz,  at  which  each  Elector  was 
present,  and  feasted  in  the  market-place,  each  in 
character  with  the  office  he  bore  in  the  Imperial 
household,  the  three  Archbishops  each  with  a  seal 
hanging  round  his  neck  as  Arch  Chancelloi-s,  the 
Duke  of  Saxony  with  a  silver  peck  of  oats  as 
Master  of  the  Horse,  the  Markgraf  of  Brandenburg 
with  a  basin  and  ewer  of  gold  as  grand  seneschal ; 


220         Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

the  Emperor's  nephew,  Wenzel,  representing  the 
Bohemian  king  as  grand  butler,  brought  wine  in  a 
golden  flagon,  and  the  Pfalzgraf  of  the  Rhine,  the 
grand  carver,  served  up  the  dishes.  After  the  ban- 
quet, the  Margraf  of  Misnia  and  the  Count  of 
Schwartzenburg,  as  grand  huntsmen,  sounded  their 
horns,  called  up  their  hounds,  and  killed  a  bear 
and  a  stag  in  presence  of  the  Emperor.  At  this 
diet  was  present  Charles,  the  Kaisar's  nephew, 
and  heir  of  France,  who  had  just  become  Count 
Dauphin  of  Vienne,  and  was  thus  a  vassal  of  the 
empire. 

Tills  Emperor  founded  the  first  German  uni- 
versit}'  at  Prague,  and  further  did  all  he  could  to 
adorn  that  city,  and  he  was  the  first  to  discover  the 
properties  of  the  waters  of  Carlsbad,  which  still 
bears  liis  name  ;  but  he  cared  little  for  Germany, 
and  bands  of  robbers  were  again  infesting  the  whole 
country,  and  the  Barons  who  held  direct  of  the 
empu'e,  without  any  Duke  or  Count  over  them,  were 
especially  violent  and  ferocious,  making  their  castles 
on  the  mountain  tops  a  terror  to  all  around. 

Karl,  however,  cared  most  for  French  and  Italian 
affairs.  A  new  Pope,  Urban  V.,  was  resolved  to 
return  to  Rome,  and  he  had  a  warlike  Cardinal, 
named  EgidJo  Albornoz,  who  prepared  his  way  by 


Karl   IV.  231 

malcing  the  people  submit  to  him.  The  Emperor 
met  the  Pope  at  Avignon,  and  was  crowned  by  him 
King  of  Aries,  before  going  to  Lombardy,  where  the 
cities  had  grown  so  much  used  to  governing  them- 
selves that  few  made  him  welcome,  and  those  who 
did  found  him  weak  and  treacherous,  and  ready  to 
do  anything,  grant  any  favor,  or  break  any  prom- 
ise, provided  he  was  bribed. 

However,  when  Urban  arrived  at  Rome,  Karl 
met  him  at  the  gates,  and  walked  by  his  side  on 
foot,  leading  liis  horse.  Wlien  the  Pope  said  Mass 
he  served  as  a  deacon,  and  he  caused  his  fourth  wife, 
Elizabeth  of  Stettin,  to  be  crowned  at  Rome,  after 
which  he  stayed  four  months  in  Tuscany,  chiefly  at 
Lucca,  trying  what  he  could  get  from  the  Italian 
cities,  and  the  families  who  were  trying  to  become 
their  lords. 

Urban  was  obliged  to  return  to  Avignon,  and 
there  died ;  but  the  next  Pope,  Gregory  XI.,  really 
came  back  to  Rome,  thougli  the  Cardinals  had  come 
to  dislike  the  city  so  much  that  six  of  them  stayed 
behind  at  A\ngnon.  Wlien  Gregory  died  in  1378, 
some  of  the  Cardinals  chose  Urban  VI.,  an  Italian, 
who  could  be  trusted  to  live  at  Rome,  but  some 
who  longed  to  be  back  at  Avignon  declared  that 
they  had  only  C.on2  so  because  the  Roman  mob  had 


222        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany, 

been  shouting  round  tliem,  "  A  Roman,  a  Roman.'* 
They  fled  away,  and  chose  a  Pope  of  their  own  who 
would  live  at  Avignon,  and  thus  began  the  great 


schism  which  did  much  harm  to  the  Church.  Eng- 
land and  Germany  held  with  the  Roman  Pope, 
France  with  the  Avignon  Pope. 


Karl  IV. 


223 


In  that  same  year,  1378,  Karl  IV.  died.  He  was 
a  clever  man,  who  knew  many  languages,  and  ruled 
Bohemia  well,  but  he  was  careless  of  Germany,  and 
used  Italy  as  a  mere  treasure-house.  By  much  brib- 
ery he  had  managed  to  get  his  eldest  son,  Wenzel, 
chosen  King  of  the  Romans  two  years  before  his 
death,  and  he  had  persuaded  his  brother  to  make 
him  heir  also  to  Luxemburg.  He  had  another  son 
named  Siegmund,  and  his  daughter  Anne  was  our 
"  good  Queen  Amie,"  the  much-loved  wife  of 
Richard  H. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

WENZEL, 137S-1400. 

WENZEL  or  Wenceslaf  of  Luxemburg,  King 
of  Bohemia,  had  been  chosen  King  of  the 
Romans,  and  succeeded  liis  father  at  seventeen. 
He  was  a  man  of  rude  and  coarse  nature,  more  like 
one  of  the  half-crazed  Roman  Emperors  than  any 
Christian  ruler  in  the  strange,  wild  cruelties  he  com- 
mitted. He  left  Germany  to  itself,  and  the  dis- 
orders there  grew  so  great  that  the  cities,  and  the 
better  sort  of  nobles  in  Swabia,  formed  themselves 
into  a  great  league  for  defending  one  another  and 
keeping  order,  sometimes  attacking  and  taking  rob- 
bers in  their  castles,  and  having  them  put  to  death. 
In  truth,  the  king  had  now  so  little  power  in  Ger- 
many that  liis  ferocity  could  not  do  much  miscliief 
there.     When  he  sent  to  the  citizens  of  Rothem- 

burg  for  a  contribution  of  4000  florins,  and  they 

224 


Wenzel  225 

refused,  all  the  harm  he  could  do  them  was  to  an- 
swer them  in  this  letter,  wliich  is  still  preserved : 

"  To  our  unfaithful  men  of  Rothemburg,  who  are 
disobedient  to  the  Empire. 

"  The  devil  began  to  shear  a  hog,  and  spake  thus, 
*  Great  cry  and  little  wool.'  Rex." 

But  at  his  own  Court  at  Prague  he  could  show 
what  he  was.  He  invited  the  Czech  nobles  to  an 
entertainment,  where  they  found  three  tents  pitched, 
black,  white,  and  red.  Wenzel  liimself  was  in  the 
black  tent,  and  as  each  came  in,  demanded  of  him 
what  crown  lauds  he  held.  If  the  noble  said  he  was 
willing  to  yield  them  up,  he  was  taken  to  the  white 
tent,  where  he  found  a  sumptuous  banquet ;  but  if 
he  declared  that  he  had  a  right  to  them,  he  was 
hurried  off  to  the  red  tent  and  beheaded. 

At  the  next  entertainment  he  gave,  before  his 
guests  sat  down,  he  showed  them  the  executioner 
leaning  on  his  axe,  and  said  to  that  grim  personage, 
"  Wait  awliile,  thou  shalt  have  work  enougli  after 
dinner."  The  nobles  were  not  slow  to  take  the 
hint,  and  Wenzel  got  whatever  he  chose  to  demand 
of  them. 

His  wife  must  have  had  a  miserable  life,  for  he 
kept  a  pack  of  bloodhounds  always  about  him  at 
table  and  in  bed,  where  she  was  often  torn  by  them. 


226        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

This  unfortunate  lady  Avas  Joliann  of  Bavaria,  and 
she  had  a  confessor  named  Johann  Nepomuk,  who 
led  her  to  become  very  pious  and  devout,  and  could 
sometimes  even  restrain  the  King  himself.  Once, 
however,  when  a  fowl  had  been  served  up  under- 
done, Wenzel  ordered  the  unhappy  cook  to  be 
fastened  to  a  spit  and  roasted  before  the  fire.  Ne- 
pomuk threw  himself  before  liim,  and  used  every 
means  to  make  him  change  his  honible  sentence, 
but  in  vain.  He  was  only  ordered  off  to  prison, 
and  kept  there  for  several  days,  after  which  he  was 
sent  to  the  palace,  invited  to  dinner  with  the  King, 
and  treated  with  great  honor.  But  when  Wenzel 
was  alone  with  him,  he  found  that  it  was  to  make 
him  tell  what  the  Queen  said  to  him  in  confession, 
and  this,  as  a  good  priest,  he  could  not  do.  The 
King  finding  persuasion  and  promises  in  vain,  had 
him  tortured,  and  as  he  still  refused,  he  was 
thrown  bound  hand  and  foot  into  the  ]\Ioldau  in  the 
middle  of  the  night,  from  the  bridge  which  still 
bears  his  name ;  but  his  corpse  floated  up,  and  was 
carried  to  the  Cathedral,  the  clergy  and  people 
flocking  to  see  and  touch  it,  as  that  of  a  saint  and 
martyr. 

Wenzel's    chief    favorite  was    his   executioner, 
whom  he  used  to  call  "  Gossip."     He  declared  that 


Wenzel.  229 

he  wanted  to  know  what  a  man  felt  when  he  was 
beheaded,  so  he  told  the  executioner  to  bind  his 
eyes,  laid  liis  head  on  the  block,  and  cried,  "  Strike." 
The  man  did  so,  but  only  Avith  the  flat  of  the  sword. 
The  King  started  up,  ordered  him  to  lay  down  liis 
head  in  his  turn,  caught  the  sword  up,  and  actually 
cut  off  liis  head  ! 

His  brother  Siegraund,  whom  his  father  had 
made  Elector  of  Braudenbiu'g  on  the  failure  of  the 
old  line,  and  who  had  been  married  to  the  daughter 
of  the  King  of  Hungar}^  chosen  by  the  Magyai-s  as 
their  king,  was  asked  by  the  Czechs  what  to  do  Avith 
tliis  dreadful  madman.  He  advised  them  to  keep 
him  as  a  prisoner,  and  they  shut  him  up  in  a  castle 
at  Prague.  After  some  months,  one  day,  when  he 
was  allowed  to  bathe  in  the  Moldau,  he  managed 
to  make  his  escape  in  a  boat  rowed  by  a  young  giii, 
and  reaching  one  of  liis  castles  on  the  other  side  of 
the  river,  took  up  arms  against  the  people.  His 
brother  Siegmund  was  called  in,  and  coming  with 
an  army,  made  him  prisoner  again,  and  sent  liiiii  to 
Vienna.  There  he  was  shut  up  in  one  of  the 
towers  of  the  castle,  from  the  window  of  which  he 
saw  an  old  fisherman  named  Grundler  giving  alms, 
whenever  lie  could,  to  the  prisoners  in  the  court. 
Wenzel  called  him,  and  so  talked  him  over  that  he 


230        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

brought  a  silken  cord,  by  means  of  which  the  King 
let  himself  down  from  the  tower  to  a  boat  on  the 
Danube,  where  Grundler  was  waiting  to  row  liim 
across.  He  reached  Prague,  and  there  set  up  his 
banner  again,  got  back  liis  kingdom,  and  rewarded 
Grundler  by  making  him  a  noble. 

In  the  meantime  another  attempt  had  been  made 
by  Duke  Leopold  of  Austria  to  subdue  the  Swiss. 
He  came  with  an  arm}'  of  4000  knights  against  the 
peasants,  who  only  mustered  1400  men,  many  of 
them  with  shields  of  Avood,  and  clubs  with  spikes 
round  their  heads,  wliich  they  called  morning 
stars.  A  knight  called  Hans  of  Hasenburg  (Hare 
Castle)  begged  the  Duke  not  to  fight  till  hi;?  infan- 
tr}'  shoidd  have  come  up,  but  another  knight  cried, 
"Hare  Castle  I  Hare  Heart  rather!  Ill  serve 
these  fellows  up  to-night  to  the  Duke,  boiled  or 
roasted,  whichever  he  likes  best." 

The  Austrians,  who  had  sent  their  horses  away 
because  the  ground  was  rough,  drew  up  on  foot  at 
Sempach  like  one  steel  wall  bristling  with  spears. 
The  peasants  knelt  for  a  moment  in  prayer,  and  then 
an  Unterwalden  farmer,  Arnold  von  Winkelried, 
shouted,  "  I  will  make  a  way  for  you,  comrades. 
Take  care  of  my  wife  and  children."  Therewith 
lie  dashed  against  the  spears,  grcisped  as  many  as 


Wenzel. 


231 


he  could  in  his  arms,  and  pressing  them  all  against 
his  breast,  held  them  there  in  the  clasp  of  death, 
wliile  the  Swiss  pressed  into  the  gap  he  made,  over 
his  body,  and  broke 
the  German  ranks- 
Terror  seized  tlic 
arm}' ;  they  fled,  all 
but  the  few  braver 
ones,  who  fought 
hard  and  desperate- 
ly. Tlie  Duke 
was  among  them, 
and  was  killed  at 
last  as  he  lay 
wounded  on  the 
ground  by  a  hump- 
backed phmdcrer, 
who  was  hung  by 
the  Swiss  for  the 
cowardly  murder. 
Wenzel  had  by  tliis 
time  grown  entire- 
ly unbearable,  and  wenzbl. 
in  1400  a  diet  was  held  at  Laenstein,  wliich  de- 
posed him  and  elected  Friedrich  of  Brunswick  ; 
but  on  the  way  to    Frankfort  to  be  crowned  the 


232        Young  Folks'  History  of  (xermany. 

new  King  was  treacherously  murdered  by  the 
Count  of  Waldeck.  Then  the  Electors  chose  the 
Pfalzgraf  Ruprecht  of  the  Rhine,  and  Wenzel  said 
he  was  very  glad  to  hear  of  his  own  deposition, 
since  he  should  have  more  time  to  attend  to  his 
own  kingdom.  He  behaved  much  better  during 
the  nineteen  years  he  survived,  and  took  much  in- 
terest in  the  University  at  Prague,  where  Johann 
Huss  was  the  Professor  of  Philosophy,  and  taught 
the  doctrines  of  Wickliffe,  which  had  been  brought 
from  England  by  a  noble  in  the  suite  of  Queen 
Amie. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

RUPRECHT,    1400-1410. 

JOBST,    1410-1411. 

SIEGMUND,    1411. 

RUPRECHT  of  the  Rliine  was  a  good  and 
able  man,  but  there  was  still  a  party  who 
made  the  existence  of  Wenzel  an  excuse  for  obey- 
ing nobody,  and  the  new  King  was  not  strong 
enough  to  force  them  to  obey  him.  He  tried  to 
interfere  in  the  affairs  of  Italy,  which  was  in  & 
state  of  great  disorder,  but  he  was  defeated  at 
Brescia,  where  the  Duke  of  Austria  was  made 
prisoner,  and  this  battle  was  the  last  the  Germans 
fought  on  the  other  side  of  the  Alps  for  at  least 
fifty  years,  during  which  time  the  great  free  towns 
were  nearly  all  seized  by  t}Tant  citizens  who  took 
ohe  chief  power. 
In  Germany  Ruprecht  was  more  respected,  and 

233 


234         Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

put  down  the  injustice  of  the  Markgraf  of  Baden, 
who  made  every  one  who  went  through  his  lands 
pay  a  heavy  tolL  Ruprecht  married  his  eldest 
son,  Ludwig,  to  Blanche,  daughter  of  Henry  IV. 
of  England,  but  she  died  at  the  end  of  the  first 
year. 

On  Ruprecht's  death  in  1410,  the  Electors  went 
back  to  the  house  of  Luxemburg,  but  they  were 
not  agreed,  half  of  them  taking  Jobst  of  Luxem- 
burg, Markgraf  of  Moravia,  son  of  a  younger  son 
of  the  blind  John  of  Bohemia,  and  the  other  half, 
his  cousin  Siegmund,  King  of  Hungary,  and  Elect- 
or of  Brandenburg.  Jobst  was  crowned,  but  died 
the  next  year,  1411,  and  at  the  diet  ensuing', 
Siegmund,  as  Elector,  voted  for  liimself,  sayinjj 
that  there  was  no  one  whose  good  qualities  be  kne"vr' 
so  Avell  as  his  own.  The  others  agreed  to  accept 
him,  and  he  was  crowned  at  Aachen. 

He  was  a  clever  man,  with  good  intentions,  but 
vain  and  flighty,  and  with  the  restless  spirit  of  aU 
the  Luxemburg  family.  He  was  anxious  to  bring 
the  Great  Schism  to  an  end,  for  it  was  now  worse 
than  ever,  an  attempt  at  a  council  having  been 
held  Asiiith  had  deposed  both  Popes  and  elected 
another,  but  as  neither  would  obey  it,  there  were 
tlu'ce  Popes,  just  as  there  had  been,  during  Jobst's 


Siegmund.  237 

life,  three  Kings  of  Germany  at  the  same  time. 
The  need  was  the  more  felt  that  the  teaching  of 
the  English  John  Wickliffe  had  been  brought  to 
Bohemia  by  the  followers  of  Queen  Anne,  and  had 
found  favor  at  the  University  of  Prague  with  two 
Bohemian  scholars,  Johann  Huss,  professor  of 
philosophy,  and  Jerome  Faulfisch,  a  master  of  arts. 
Wenzel  had  encouraged  them,  and  the  more  Catho- 
lic professors  had  all  gone  off  in  a  body  to  Leipsig. 
Hussite  preaching  had  spread  through  Bohemia, 
and  the  Czechs  were  strongly  cr}-ing  out  against 
the  Pope's  claim  to  be  universal  Bishop,  and  against 
the  denjing  the  Cup  in  the  Holy  Communion  to 
the  laity,  as  well  as  many  of  the  horrid  corruptions 
that  had  grown  up  in  the  Church.  One  of  the 
worst  of  these  was,  that  whereas  the  Popes  had 
ventured  to  declare  that  whoever  went  on  a  crusade 
or  on  a  pilgrimage  to  Rome  would  be  freed  from 
a  certain  number  of  years  of  purifying  fire,  which 
was  called  Purgatory ;  it  had  lately  been  said  that 
indulgences,  remitting  part  of  the  penance,  might 
be  had  for  money,  wliich  was  supposed  to  go  ir 
alms,  but  was  generally  spent  on  the  needs  of  th^ 
Pope  and  his  Cardinals. 

Siegmund  was  bunt  on  holding  a  Council  to  set 
all  thooc  abusco  to  ri;^hts.     He  went  to  France  and 


238        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 


Italy,  and  at  last  iii  November,  1414,  he  brought 
together  one  of  the  three  Popes,  John  XXIII.,  3 
Patriarchs,  33  Cardinals,  47  Archbishops,  145 
Bishops,  224  Abbots,  1800  Priests,  and  750  doctors 
of  theology,  at  Constance.     They  were  followed 

by  a  strange  crew 
of  all  sorts  of  peo- 
ple, friars,  knights, 
squires,  mercnants, 
pedlars,  mounte- 
banks, jugglers, 
beggars,  so  that  all 
around  the  city  was 
like  an  enormous 
fair.  The  clergy  of 
each  nation  were 
to  form  different 
chambers,  Italian, 
German,  English, 
French,  and  Span- 
ish. It  was  said  of 
them,  "  The  Ger- 
mans are  imperious 
and  patient,  the 
French  boasti'nl 
anil    vain,  the   12n- 


SIEGMUNO. 


Slegmund.  239 

glish  ready  and  -uise,  the  Italians  subtle  and  in- 
triguing." Siegmund  made  a  speech  to  open  the 
Council,  but  he  was  A\Tong  in  his  grammar,  and 
when  one  of  the  Cardinals  corrected  him,  he  said, 
"  I  am  King  of  the  Romans,  and  lord  of  the  Latin 
gi-ammar."  The  first  decision  was  that  a  Council 
of  the  Church  is  supreme  to  the  Pope.  Then  Sieg- 
mund told  the  Council  of  the  promises  of  the  two 
absent  Popes  to  resign,  and  John  XXIII.,  finding 
that  horrible  stories  were  coming  out  against  him, 
made  oath  that  he  woidd  do  the  same,  but  instead 
of  doing  so,  he  persuaded  Friedrich,  Duke  of  Aus- 
tria, to  help  him  run  away  to  Schaffhausen.  How- 
ever, it  was  decided  that  this  was  the  same  as  an 
abdication,  and  Friedrich  was  severely  pimished, 
and  forced  to  give  liim  up  to  be  imprisoned  for 
life. 

Then  the  Council  began  to  consider  of  doctrine. 
Siegmund  had  given  a  safe-conduct  to  Johann  Huss, 
to  come  to  and  go  fi'om  Constance,  but  fearing  it 
would  not  be  respected,  Huss  tried  to  escape  in  a 
wagon  of  ha}',  but  he  was  found  and  brouglit  back 
again.  Wickliffe's  writings  Avere  read,  and  the 
errors  in  them  condemned,  and  then  John  IIuss 
was  brought  before  the  Council  and  forbidden  to 
continue  this  teaching  on  pain  of  death.     He  would 


240        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

not  promise  silence,  so  lie  was  condemned  to  be 
burnt,  and  when  he  appealed  to  the  King's  safe- 
conduct,  Siegmund  said  that  no  faith  was  to  be 
kept  with  a  heretic,  and  Huss  was  burnt  at  a  stake 
outside  the  town. 

The  next  tiling  Siegmund  did  was  to  go  all  the 
way  to  Perpignan  on  the  Pyrennees  to  force  one  of 
the  anti-Popes  to  resign,  and  though  he  failed  to 
do  tliis,  he  persuaded  the  Spanish  kings  to  withdraw 
their  support,  and  promise  to  own  any  Pope  whom 
the  Council  might  elect.  He  gained  the  same 
promise  from  the  French  by  going  to  Paris,  and  he 
then  visited  England,  spent  St.  George's  day  at 
Windsor  with  Henry  V.,  and  was  made  a  Knight 
of  the  Garter,  and  persuaded  no  less  than  400  En- 
glishmen to  go  to  the  Council  at  Constance. 

Not  much  had  been  done  there  except  the  burn- 
ing of  Jerome  of  Prague;  but  when  the  King 
returned,  and  Cardinal  Beaufort  arrived,  the  Ger- 
mans,  who  had  tried  hard  to  get  the  worst  abuses 
reformed  before  a  new  Pope  was  chosen,  gave  way, 
and  Martin  IV.  was  elected.  He  hushed  up  mat- 
ters by  giving  to  each  nation  for  a  time  what  they 
most  craved  for,  but  staved  off  any  real  reforma- 
tion. 

But  lluss's  death  had  caused  a  terrible  uproar 


Siegmund.  241 

in  Bohemia,  headed  by  a  noble  called  John  Ziska^ 
He  marched  tliroiigh  Prague,  storming  the  council 
chamber,  and  murdering  the  clergy.  King  Wenzel 
was  dreadfully  excited  at  the  sounds,  and  one  of 
his  servants  saying  that  he  had  known  for  three 
days  that  there  would  be  an  outbreak,  he  jumped 
up,  caught  the  man  by  the  hair,  and  would  have 
killed  him  ;  but  being  withheld  by  bystanders,  fell 
into  a  fit  and  died  in  1419.  Ziska,  with  a  banner 
bearing  the  Chalice,  marched  through  Bohemia,  at 
the  head  of  an  army  of  all  ranks,  sexes,  and  ages, 
committing  horrid  ravages,  though  they  called 
themselves  God's  people.  When  a  battle  was 
fought,  he  bade  the  women  take  off  their  veils  and 
mantles  and  throw  them  on  the  ground  to  entangle 
the  feet  of  the  horses  of  their  enemies.  Though  he 
soon  lost  his  sight,  he  was  a  great  captain,  using  a 
terrible  iron  mace  which  beat  down  all  before  liim, 
and  he  defeated  both  Siegmund  and  the  Duke  of 
Austria. 

He  died  in  the  Plague  in  1424,  but  Procop  Holy 
was  almost  equally  successful,  and  when,  in  1431, 
the  council  of  Basle  met  to  confirm  the  decrees  of 
Constance,  peace  was  made  with  the  Hussites,  or 
Calixtines,  as  they  termed  themselves  in  honor  of 
the    chalice,  and  they  were  allowed  to  have  the 


242        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

Holy  Eucharist  in  both  kinds,  freedom  of  preach- 
ing, and  to  keep  the  property  of  which  they  had 
robbed  the  priests. 

After  this,  Siegmund  was  owned  as  King  of  Bo- 
hemia, and  with  liis  second  queen,  a  wicked  woman 
named  Barbara  Cilly,  was  crowned  at  Prague. 
They  had  only  one  daughter  named  Elizabeth,  and 
Siegmund  had  given  the  electoral  county  of  Bran- 
denburg to  Friedrich  of  Hohenzollern,  Burgraf  of 
Nuremburg.  The  kingdoms  of  Bohemia,  Hungary', 
and  the  Empire  he  wished  to  leave  to  his  daughter's 
husband,  Albrecht,  Duke  of  Austria,  but  Barbara 
was  scheming  to  keep  them  herself,  and  marry 
Ladislaf,  King  of  Poland,  though  he  was  twenty- 
three  and  she  sixty,  and  so  she  prettmded  to  be  a 
great  friend  of  the  Hussites,  so  as  to  get  their  sup- 
port, though  she  really  believed  in  notliing. 

Siegmund  thought  his  last  illness  was  owing  to 
poison  she  had  given  him  and  ordered  her  to  be 
arrested.  He  called  the  barons  of  Hungary  and 
Boliemia  to  his  death-bed,  and  named  liis  son-in-law, 
Albrecht  of  Hapsburg,  Dulvc  of  Austria,  as  liis 
successor  in  these  kingdoms.  He  died  in  Moravia, 
in  liis  seventieth  year,  on  the  9th  of  September, 
1438. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

ALBRECHT  II., 1438-1440. 

FRIEDRICH  III., 1440-1482. 

A  LBRECHT  of  Austria  had  to  fight  with  the 
■^  ^  Calixtines  for  the  crown  of  Bohemia,  but 
was  accepted  at  last,  and  he  was  also  chosen  King  of 
Hungary  and  King  of  the  Romans.  He  was  a  good 
and  able  man,  and  as  King  of  Hungary  found  him- 
self bound  to  keep  back  the  terrible  Othman  Turks;, 
who  had  become  the  cliief  Mahometan  power. 
They  had  crossed  the  Dardanelles,  made  their 
capital  at  ^Vdrianople,  and  were  tlu-eatening  Con- 
stantinople on  the  one  hand,  and  Hungary  on  the 
other. 

Albrecht  marched  against  them,  and  encamped 
on  the  Danube,  but  he  had  not  men  enougli  to  pr*^- 
vent  the  fall  of  the  Servian  city  of  Semontb-ia,  aUvl 
when   he   succeeded   in   collecting   an   army,    t'e 


244        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 


unwholesome  marshes  in  which  he  was  encamped 
brought  on  ilhiess  which  forced  him  to  turn  back. 
He  was  so  ill  that  liis  physician  begged  him  to  stop 

at  Buda,  but  he 
declared  that  he 
should  be  well  if 
he  could  only  see 
Vienna  and  his 
wife  again,  and 
was  carried  for- 
ward in  a  litter  to 
a  little  village 
near  Gran,  where 
he  died  at  forty- 
two  years  old,  hav- 
ing only  reigned 
two  years.  He 
left  two  little 
daughters,  and  a 
son  who  was  borii 
after  his  death,  and 
christened  Ladis- 
las  or  Lassla. 
The  Hungarians 
wanted  a  man  to  defend  them,  and  offered  their 
crown  to  King  Ladislas  of  Poland,  but  when  lie 


ALBItECHT   II. 


Friedrich  III.  245 

came  to  be  crowned,  the  holy  crown  of  St.  Stephen 
of  Hungary  could  nowhere  be  found,  till  Elizabeth 
with  her  little  son  appeared  at  Wcissenberg,  and 
produced  the  crown,  which  had  been  hidden  in  his 
cradle.  He  was  crowned  with  it  and  knighted  at 
twelve  weeks  old,  but  the  disputed  succession  was 
a  miserable  thing  for  all  Europe,  when  Hungary 
ought  to  have  been  the  bulwark  of  Cliristendom 
against  the  Turks.  However,  the  King  of  Poland 
was  chosen  for  the  present  by  the  great  body  of 
Hungarians,  and  Elizabeth  retired  into  Styria, 
where  she  soon  died. 

The  Electors  had  in  the  meantime  met,  and  had 
given  the  crown  to  the  eldest  member  of  the  House 
of  Hapsburg,  Friedrich,  Duke  of  Styria,  first  cousin 
to  Albrecht,  a  dull  indolent  man,  but  very  avari- 
cious and  grasping.  Everything  he  had  was  marked 
with  the  letters  A  E  I  O  U,  which  puzzled  every 
one  all  his  life,  but  after  his  death  a  key  was  found 
in  his  own  handwriting. 

Latin  —  Aiistriae  est  Imperare  orbi  universe. 
German  —  Alios  erdreicli  ist  Oesterreicli  uiitbertharu 

Or,  as  we  may  render  it  in  English  — 

Austria's  Emijire  is  over  [the]  universe, 
or 

All  earth  is  Oesleirich's  underling. 


216         Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 


Indeed  he  thought  much  of  astrology  and  magic, 
and  cared  more  for  these  than  for  the  affairs  of  the 
Empire,  except  that  he  grasped  all  the  money  that 
came  into  his  possession.  He  was  not  Duke  of  all 
Austria,  which  was  divided  between  him  and  his 
brother  Albrecht,  and  he  had  neither  Hungary  nor 

Bohemia,  but  he  was 
the  last  Emperor  who 
was  crowned  at  Rome, 
in  1452,  and  he  then 
made  the  Austrian 
title,  Erzherzog,  or 
Archduke. 

His  wife  was  Eleanor 
of  Portugal,  a  beauti- 
ful lady  who  met  him 
at  Siena,  and  was  mar- 
ried to  him  at  Rome  by 
the  Pope  himself,  after 
which  he  knighted  his 
young  cousin,  Lassla, 
king  by  right  of  Bo- 
hemia and  Hungary. 
There  were  prodigious 
feastings,  with  tables 
for  30,000  guests,  and 


FmiBDRICH   UI. 


Friedrich  III.  247 

the  fountains  running  with  wine,  but  Friedrich 
was  so  little  thought  of  in  Italy  that  practical  jokes 
were  played  on  him.  As  he  rode  into  Viterbo  un- 
der a  canopy  of  cloth  of  gold,  some  young  men  let 
down  hooks  from  the  balconies  above  and  pulled 
that  up,  after  which  they  proceeded  to  fish  for  his 
hat  which  had  a  valuable  jewel  in  it,  but  this  was 
more  than  Friedrich  could  bear,  he  seized  a  staff, 
and  charged  the  uncivil  crowd.  The  ringleaders 
were  sent  to  prison,  but  released  at  his  request. 

Young  Lassla  died  in  1457,  and  Bohemia  chose 
for  king,  George  Podiebrad,  a  Hussite  noble,  while 
the  Hungarians  elected  Mattliias  Corvinus,  son  of 
John  Humiades,  a  nobleman  who  had  bravely  de- 
fended them  against  the  Turks — who,  in  1453,  had 
taken  Constantinople,  and  were  more  dangerous 
than  ever.  Friedrich  was  greatly  disliked  even  in 
Austria,  and  was  actually  besieged  in  the  fortress 
of  Vienna  with  his  wife  and  child  by  the  populace, 
till  he  was  delivered  by  George  Podiebrad,  whom 
he  rewarded  by  owning  him  as  King  of  Bohemia. 

His  brother  Albrecht  died  in  1463,  and  he  then 
gained  the  rest  of  Austria,  except  the  Tyrol,  which 
belonged  to  liis  cousin  Siegmund,  as  did  also  Elsass. 
Siegmund  being  an  extravagant,  needy  prmce, 
mortgaged  Elsass  to  the  great  Duke  of  Burgundy. 


743        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

Charles  the  Bold,  who  had  inherited  Flanders, 
Holland,  and  all  the  lands  at  the  mouths  of  the 
Rhine,  Maes,  &c.,  wliich  were  partly  fiefs  of  Ger- 
many and  partly  of  France ;  Charles  was  like  the 
king  of  all  this,  the  richest  country  in  Eirrope,  and 
as  he  had  only  one  cliild,  Mary  of  Burgundy,  he 
proposed  to  marry  her  to  Maximilian,  the  only  son 
of  Friedrich,  on  being  himself  elected  King  of  the 
Romans.  Thus,  after  his  death,  Maximilian  and 
Mary  would  reign  together,  and  large  hereditary 
possessions  would  be  added  to  Austria.  Friedrich 
and  his  son  met  Charles  at  Trier.  Maximilian, 
whose  name  had  been  invented  by  his  father  as  a 
compound  of  Maximus  and  ^milianus,  was  a 
splendid  young  man  of  eighteen,  wdth  long,  fair 
hair,  a  great  contrast  to  his  dull,  heavy  father,  who 
was  lame  from  a  disease  in  his  foot,  brought  on  by 
a  habit  of  always  kicking  doors  open. 

There  were  eight  weeks  of  feasting  and  tilting  at 
Charles's  expense,  and  preparations  were  made  for 
Charles's  coronation  as  King  of  the  Romans,  when 
five  out  of  the  seven  Electors,  angry  that  their  con- 
sent should  have  been  taken  for  granted,  and  for 
different  reasons  disliking  Charles,  persuaded  the 
Emperor  out  of  the  scheme,  and  in  the  middle  of 
the  night  Friedrich  stole  down  to  the  river  Moselle, 


Friedrich  III.  249 

took  boat,  and  had  reached  Kohi  before  liis  flight 
was  discovered.  He  had  left  all  his  debts  unpaid, 
and  no  farewells  for  his  host. 

The  Duchy  of  Lorraine  had  been  seized  on  by 
Charles,  and  the  rightful  heir,  Rdne  of  Vanddmont, 
was  fighting  hard  for  it,  supported  secretly  by 
Louis  XL  of  France,  the  great  foe  of  Burgundy. 
And  Siegmund  had  hopes  of  getting  back  Elsass 
without  paying  the  sum  it  was  pawned  for,  since 
Charles's  governor,  Peter  von  Hagenbach,  was 
harsh  and  cruel,  and  hated  by  the  people,  who 
jointly  with  a  band  of  Swiss,  rose  against  him,  and 
put  him  to  death  at  Breisach.  There  broke  out  a 
great  war  between  Burgundy  on  the  one  hand,  and 
Lorraine,  Elsass,  and  Switzerland  on  the  other. 
The  Swiss  overthrew  the  knights  in  two  great  bat- 
tles at  Granson  and  Muret,  and  finally,  while 
Charles  was  besieging  Nancy,  the  capital  of  Lor- 
raine, they  came  down  on  his  camp  in  the  dawn  of 
the  Twelfth  day  morning  of  the  year  1477,  broke 
up  his  fine  army,  and  left  him  lying  dead  in  a 
frozen  pool. 

His  young  daughter  did  not  inherit  Burgundy, 
but  was  heiress  to  the  many  counties  of  Holland 
and  the  Netherlands.  She  was  beset  by  Louis  XL, 
who  wanted  to  marry  her  to  his  son,  and  her  own 


250        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

subjects  in  the  great  Flemish  toAvns  were  turbulent 
and  factious,  and  put  her  father's  trusty  old  coun- 
cillors to  death  for  a  supposed  intrigue  with 
France.  In  her  distress  she  sent  Maximilian  a 
ring,  and  he  hastened  to  her  aid,  and  married  her  at 
once.  For  three  years  they  were  most  happy  to- 
gether, then  in  1482  she  was  killed  by  a  fall  from 
her  horse,  leaving  two  little  children,  PhUip  and 
Margarethe. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

FRIEDRICn  III., 1482-1493. 

I  r'RTEDRICH  III.  was  in  trouble  at  home  while 
-^  his  son  was  in  the  Low  Countries.  The 
Pope  would  not  own  George  Podiebrad  as  King  of 
Bohemia,  because  he  was  a  Calixtine,  and  a  crusade 
against  him  was  preached  in  Germany  and  Austria. 
In  much  anger,  George  invaded  Austria,  and 
brought  the  Emperor  to  such  distress  that  he  prom- 
ised to  support  INIatthias  Corvinus,  who  had  been 
elected  by  the  Bohemian  Catholics,  if  he  would  de- 
fend Austria. 

However  he  then  grew  alarmed  at  the  notion  of 
the  two  kingdoms  being  joined  under  so  great  a 
leader  as  Matthias,  and  when  George  proposed  to 
the  Bohemians,  Ladislas,  the  son  of  the  King  of 
Poland,  and  of  Elizabeth,  the  daughter  of  Albrecht 

251 


252        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany, 

II.,  he  gave  the  measure  his  support,  and  Ladisla» 
claimed  the  crown  on  George's  death. 

Matthias  was  very  angry  at  Friedrich's  treachery 
He  defeated  tlie  Polish  army  which  was  support- 
ing Ladislas,  and  also  gained  a  great  victory  over 
the  Turks,  and  took  the  fortress  of  Saltzbach  on  the 
Danube,  which  was  a  great  protection  against  the 
Othman  power.  Then  he  invaded  Austria,  where 
the  Emperor  made  no  resistance,  but  fled  from 
Vienna  and  went  wandering  about  from  city  to  city 
and  convent  to  convent,  seeking  help  which  he  could 
not  find. 

Nor  could  his  son  give  him  any  aid,  for  the 
States  of  Flanders  and  Holland  would  not  let  Max- 
imilian have  the  charge  of  them  for  his  little  son 
after  his  wife's  death  but  concluded  a  treaty  with 
Louis  XI.  of  France,  and  sent  the  infant  Marga- 
rethe  to  be  brought  up  at  Paris  for  a  wife  for  the 
Dauphin  Charles.  However,  at  a  diet  at  Frankfort, 
the  Electors  chose  Maximilian  King  of  the  Romans, 
and  soon  after,  Anne,  the  heiress  of  Brittany,  who 
was  sorely  pressed  by  the  French  on  one  hand,  and 
her  own  people  on  the  other,  sent  to  beg  him  to 
come  and  marry  her,  and  save  her  from  her  enemies. 
He  set  out  with  a  troop  of  Germans,  but  he  had  to 
pass  through  the  city  of  Bruges,  and  there  the  burg- 


Friedrich    III.  253 

hers  were  so  angry  at  his  bringing  Germans  into 
Flanders,  that  when  he  came  into  the  town  with 
only  his  own  attendants,  they  rose  upon  him,  and 
drove  him  into  an  apothecary's  shop,  whence  he 
was  taken  to  the  castle  and  kept  a  prisoner  for  ten 
months,  till  the  German  princes  collected  an  army 
and  forced  the  Flemings  to  make  terms,  and  to  set 
him  free.  He  behaved  through  the  whole  time 
with  the  greatest  patience  and  good  humor,  and 
after  giving  thanks  for  his  freedom  in  the  Church 
at  Bruges,  turned  to  the  citizens  and  said,  "We 
are  now  at  peace."  By  that  time  Anne  of  Brittany 
had  become  the  wife  of  that  very  Charles  of  France 
who  had  been  betrothed  to  Maximilian's  daughter 
Margaretlic,  and  she  was  sent  back  to  Brussels, 
father  and  daughter  being  thus  both  disappointed. 

Maximilian  was  a  fine  tall  graceful  man,  who  had 
studied  all  that  was  then  known  of  language,  art, 
and  science,  and  was  brave  to  rashness.  He  went 
into  a  den  with  some  lions,  and  when  the  door 
closed  on  him,  and  they  turned  on  him,  he  defended 
himself  with  a  shovel  till  help  came.  He  climbed 
to  the  topmost  pinnacle  of  the  spire  of  Ulm  Cathe- 
dral, and  stood  there  with  half  one  foot  overhanging. 
He  was  a  most  fearless  chamois  hunter,  and  had 
been  in  many   terrible   dangers   from   winds   and 


254        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

avalanches  in  the  Tyrolean  mountains.  Once  he 
slipped  down  a  precipice  called  the  Martinswand, 
and  was  caught  by  a  small  ledge  of  rock  with  a 
cleft  behind  it,  whence  there  was  no  way  up  or 
down.  The  whole  population  came  out  and  saw 
him,  but  could  do  notliing  to  help  liim,  or  hinder 
him  from  being  starved.  He  threw  down  a  stone 
with  a  paper  fastened  to  it,  begging  that  Mass 
might  be  celebrated  below,  and  a  shot  fired  to  let 
liim  know  the  moment  of  the  consecration.  At 
night,  however,  he  suddeidy  appeared  among  his 
friends,  saying  that  a  shepherd  boy  had  come  and 
led  him  tlu-ough  a  passage  in  the  cleft  through  the 
mountain,  and  brought  him  back  in  safety.  This 
shepherd  was  never  seen  again,  and  was  believed 
by  the  T3'rolese  to  have  been  an  angel.  A  little 
church  built  by  Maximilian  still  stands  on  the  top 
of  the  rock. 

For  his  daring  courage  he  was  called  the  Last  of 
the  Knights,  and  he  made  many  experiments  on 
the  management  of  fire-arms,  which  were  just  com- 
ing into  general  use.  In  these  he  ran  great  risks 
and  had  hairbreadth  escapes.  Once  the  long- 
pointed  toe  of  his  boot  was  caught  and  torn  off  by 
the  wheel  of  a  machine  for  turning  stone  cannon- 
balls,  and  another  time  he  was  just  in  time  to  de- 


-fSlrt'^v 


JJAXIMLLIAN  AND  ALDEUT  UUllEa. 


Friedrich  III.  257 

tect  his  fool  putting  a  match  to  the  mouth  of  a 
cannon  before  which  he  was  standing.  He  made, 
however,  many  improvements  in  the  artillery  of 
the  time,  he  greatly  encouraged  printing,  and  es- 
pecially favored  the  great  Nuremburg  painter,  Al- 
brecht  Durer.  He  even  wrote  in  great  part  two 
curious  books  called  "  Theurdank "  and  "  The 
Wliite  King,"  in  which  he  describes  his  whole  life 
and  adventures  in  a  sort  of  allegory,  in  both  bring- 
ing in  his  marriage  with  Marie  of  Bui-gundy,  for 
whom  he  never  ceased  to  mourn  all  his  life. 

Meantime  the  misrule  and  lawlessness  of  Ger- 
many were  unbearable.  A  robber  knight  callea 
Kunz  of  Kauffingen,  in  1455,  actually  scaled  the 
Castle  of  Altenberg,  belonging  to  the  Elector 
Friedrich  the  Mild  of  Saxony,  in  the  middle  of  the 
night,  and  stole  his  two  little  sons,  Ernst  and  Al- 
brecht.  Ernst  was  hidden  by  some  of  the  band  in 
a  cave,  but  Kunz  himself,  carrying  Albrecht  before 
him  on  his  horse,  halted  in  a  forest  at  daybreak, 
and  dismounted  to  refresh  the  child  with  some 
wild  strawberries.  A  charcoal-burner  came  up  at 
the  moment,  and  Albi(!cht  shrieked  out  to  him  for 
help,  when  he  laid  a})out  him  so  gallantly  with  his 
long  pole,  that  he  detained  Kunz  till  at  liis  wlustle 
other  wuodmeii  came  up,  the  boy  was  rescued,  and 


258        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

the  robber  taken.  His  gang  then  gave  up  the 
other  child  to  his  parents,  and  Kunz  was  beheaded 
at  Freiburg  a  week  later. 

The  princes  and  cities  began  to  exert  themselves 
to  prevent  such  outrages,  the  Swabian  League  es- 
pecially, feud  letters  were  strictly  forbidden,  and 
the  castles  on  the  mountains  where  the  nobles  had 
held  out  against  all  law  and  order  were  stormed, 
and  the  nobles  reduced  to  submission,  or  else  put 
to  death.  In  all  this  the  Emperor  took  little  part, 
being  chiefly  taken  up  with  astrology  and  alchemy, 
and  with  hoarding  treasure,  and  indeed  he  behaved 
shamefully  in  withholding  the  ransoms  of  his  own 
Austrian  nobles  who  had  been  made  prisoners  by 
the  Turks. 

When  Siegmund  of  Hapsburg  died  he  left  Tyrol 
to  Albrecht,  Duke  of  Bavaria,  who  had  married 
Friedrich's  daughter,  Kunigunde.  He  also  seized 
the  great  imperial  city  of  Regensburg,  but  with  the 
aid  of  the  Swabian  League  he  was  reduced  to  make 
peace  by  the  mediation  of  Maximilian.  The  high 
qualities  of  the  King  of  the  Romans  had  led  Mat- 
thias Corvinus  to  be  willing  to  make  liim  his  heir, 
but  the  Magyars  chose  instead  Ladislas  of  Poland, 
who  was  already  King  of  Bohemia. 

Friedrich  was  seventy-eight  years  old  when  he 


Friedrich  III, 


259 


had  his  diseased  leg  cut  oif.  He  took  it  in  his 
hand,  saying,  "  There  !  a  sound  boor  is  better  than 
a  sick  Kaisar."  He  seemed  to  be  going  on  well, 
but  he  ate  too  plentifully  of  melons,  and  died  on 
the  19th  of  August,  1493,  having  reigned  fifty-three 
years,  a  reign  longer  than  that  of  any  Emperor  ex- 
cept Augustus. 


CHAPTER    XXVL 
]vlajj:biilian 1493-1519. 

KAISAR  Max,  as  every  one  called  him,  though 
he  never  was  crowned  as  Emperor,  began 
by  gallantly  driving  back  the  Turks,  who  had  ad- 
vanced as  far  as  Laybach,  so  that  he  was  hailed  at 
Innspruck,  his  favorite  city,  as  a  deliverer. 

He  then  married  Bianca  Maria,  the  sister  of  Gio- 
vanni Galeazzo,  Duke  of  Milan,  because  he  wished 
to  have  a  footing  in  Italy,  but  he  never  loved  her 
like  the  wife  of  liis  youth,  and  she  seems  to  have 
been  a  dull,  heavy  woman,  who  grew  inordinately 
fat  from  eating  snails.  The  aifairs  of  Italy  were 
the  great  concern,  for  Bianca's  uncle,  Ludovico 
Sforza,  after  having  brought  about  an  invasion  of 
Italy  by  Charles  VIII.  of  France,  was  ready  to  do 
anything  to  get  rid  of  him.  Maximilian  joined  the 
league  against  liim,  and  for  many  years  there  was 

260 


Maximilian.  261 

a  continual  struggle  in  Italy  between  Germans, 
French,  and  Spaniards,  the  Italians  themselves 
sometimes   taking  part  with  one,  sometimes  with 


Maximiuan. 

the  other,  and  only  wisliing  to  get  rid  of  them  all 
alike  as  foreigners.     The  Pope,  Alexander  VI.,  was 


262        Young  Folks*  Eistory  of  Germany. 

one  of  the  worst  of  men,  and  had  brought  the 
Church  into  such  a  state,  that  all  good  men  felt 
that  there  was  no  cure  but  calling  a  General  Coun- 
cil. Philip,  the  son  of  Maximilian  and  Marie  of 
Burgundy,  had  been  married  to  Juana,  the  daughter 
of  Ferdinand,  King  of  Aragon,  and  Isabel,  Queen 
of  Castille.  He  died  in  1504,  leaving  two  sons, 
Charles  and  Ferdinand,  and  five  daughters.  His 
wife  became  insane  with  grief,  and  the  children 
were  brought  up  by  Margarethe,  his  sister,  who 
ruled  their  inheritance  of  the  Low  Countries  with 
great  wisdom  and  skill.  She  and  her  father  wrote 
very  amusing  letters  to  one  another,  wliicli  are  still 
preserved. 

She  was  sent  to  manage  a  treaty  which  Maxi- 
milian made  with  Louis  XII.  of  France  against  the 
republic  of  Venice,  and  met  the  French  minister, 
the  Cardinal  of  Amboise,  at  Cambrai,  where  she 
wrote  to  her  father  he  and  she  were  nearly  ready 
to  pull  each  other's  hair,  but  at  last  they  agreed  to 
attack  the  Venetians,  who  had  beaten  the  Ger- 
mans and  laughed  at  the  Kaisar,  calling  him  Max- 
imilian the  moneyless.  Both  he  and  Louis  XII. 
crossed  the  Alps,  but  the  German  nobles  had  little 
mind  for  the  war,  and  the  only  troops  he  could 
trust  were   the   landsknechts,  foot   soldiers  of  low 


Maximilian.  263 

birth,  who  carried  heavy  pikes,  formed  troops  un- 
der captains  of  their  own,  and  hired  themselves 
out  to  fight.  At  the  siege  of  Padua,  Maximilian 
asked  the  Frencli  knights  to  storm  the  place  to- 
gether with  the  landsknechts,  but  they  made  an- 
swer that  they  would  not  do  so  unless  the  German 
knights  likewise  joined  in  the  assault.  Maximilian 
thought  this  fair,  but  the  German  nobility  made 
answer  that  they  would  only  fight  on  horseback, 
and  that  it  was  beneath  them  to  dismount  and 
scramble  through  ditches  and  walls.  The  Kaisar 
was  so  much  ashamed  of  them  that  he  set  out  at 
night  with  only  five  men,  rode  forty  miles  without 
stopping,  sent  orders  to  break  up  the  camp,  and  re- 
tired to  Austria. 

He  was  always  making  great  schemes,  and  break- 
ing down  suddenly  in  them  for  want  of  money,  or 
of  the  support  of  his  princes,  and  thus,  though  he 
was  the  cleverest  sovereign  on  the  throne,  and  with 
tlie  highest  ideas  and  noblest  notions,  he  was  little 
trusted  or  respected,  and  he  did  very  strange  things. 
Ji  ius  II.  drew  him  and  Henry  VIII.  into  what  he 
called  the  Holy  League,  for  driving  the  French 
out  of  Italy,  and  when  Henry  attacked  them  at 
home,  and  laid   siege   to  Terouenne,   Maximilian 


264         Young  Folhs'  History  of  Germany. 

went  and  served  in  his  axmy  as  a  private  knight  foi 
100  crowns  a-day. 

And  when  Julius  II.  died,  ]Maximilian  actually 
tried  to  be  elected  Pope,  thinldng  that  thus  he 
could  best  call  a  council  and  reform  the  Church, 
but  he  was  not  attended  to,  and  Pope  Leo  X.  was 
chosen.  All  this  made  foreign  nations  laugh  at  him 
and  think  him  untrustworthy,  but  his  failures  were 
chiefly  owing  to  the  disobedience  and  want  of 
public  spirit  of  the  German  princes.  He  once  said 
the  King  of  France  reigned  over  asses,  for  they 
would  bear  an}'^  burthen  he  pleased ;  the  King  of 
Spain  was  a  king  of  men,  who  only  submitted  in 
reason ;  the  King  of  England  was  a  king  of  angels, 
who  did  him  willing,  faithful  service ;  but  the  Kaisar 
reigned  over  kings  who  only  obeyed  him  when 
they  chose. 

And  that  was  seldom.  The  Germans  were  in  a 
bad  state,  rude  and  boorish,  too  poor  and  too  proud 
to  seek  improvements,  drunkards  and  gi'eat  stick- 
lers for  rank.  The  free  cities  were  much  better  in 
some  ways,  but  two  of  them  actually  Avent  to  war 
because  a  maiden  of  one  refused  to  dance  with  a 
young  burgher  of  the  other.  Maximilian  suffered 
in  authority  by  the  loss  of  Bohemia,  and  Switzer- 
land entirely  broke  off  from  the  Empu"e,  but  he  did 


Maximilian.  267 

much  toward  setting  things  in  a  better  state  for  the 
future,  by  dividing  the  Empire  into  circles,  Bavaria, 
Swabia,  Franconia,  Austria,  Burgundy,  Upper  and 
Lower  Saxony,  and  the  Upper  and  Lower  Rhine. 
A  governor  was  placed  over  each  circle,  whose  duty 
it  was  to  carry  out  the  decisions  of  the  diet  and  to 
keep  order.  Austria  was  kept  in  excellent  order, 
and  there  was  a  court  set  up  to  hear  appeals  from 
the  country.  It  was  called  the  Aulic  Council,  from 
Aula,  a  hall,  and  became  very  important.  But  do 
what  he  would,  the  Germans  had  not  public  spirit 
enough  to  join  their  Kaisar  in  attacking  the  Turks, 
who  grew  more  dangerous  every  year.  Maximilian 
vainly  appealed  to  them.  A  very  large  meteoric 
stone  which  came  down  near  Encisheim  was  held 
to  be  a  thunderbolt,  and  Maximilian  had  it  hung 
up  in  the  Church,  to  show  what  might  be  looked 
for  from  the  -wrath  of  Heaven,  but  all  in  vain.  No 
one  heeded  his  warnings. 

The  wisest  man  in  Germany  was  the  good  Elec- 
tor of  Saxony,  Friediich,  son  of  the  Albrecht  who 
had  been  stolen.  He  had  founded  a  university  at 
Wittenberg,  and  here  one  of  the  professors  was 
Martin  Luther,  the  son  of  a  woodcutter  of  Thurin- 
gia,  who  had  struggled  into  getting  educated  at  the 
University  of  Erfurt,  and  had  become  a  monk.     He 


268        Young  Folks'  History  of  Grermany. 

had  been  much  troubled  in  mind  by  the  sense  of 
sin,  until  a  good  old  monk  taught  him  to  think 
most  of  the  Merits  of  his  Saviour.  He  read  the 
Bible  with  all  his  might,  and  became  a  great  preach- 
er, as  well  as  a  doctor  of  theology  at  Wittenberg. 
A  friar  named  John  Tetzel  came  to  the  neighbor- 
hood selling  indulgences,  and  saying  such  shocking 
things  to  recommend  them,  that  Luther's  spirit 
was  stirred,  and  on  the  31st  of  October,  1517,  he 
nailed  to  the  door  at  Wittenberg  a  paper  called  a 
thesis,  in  which  he  challenged  the  whole  system  on 
which  the  sale  of  indulgences  was  founded.  The 
thesis  was  printed,  and  spread  all  over  Germany,  so 
that  there  was  a  vehement  controversy'',  in  which 
Maximilian  took  some  interest,  but  he  was  much 
taken  up  with  trying  to  secure  the  Empire  to  liis 
grandson  Charles,  and  likewise  with  the  endeavor 
to  raise  German}^  against  the  Turks.  For  tliis 
purpose  he  held  a  diet  at  Augsburg,  but  a  knight 
named  Ulrich  of  Ilutten  sent  round  a  paper  calluig 
the  Pope  a  worse  foe  to  Chiistendom  than  the 
Sultan,  and  the  princes  disputed  and  did  nothing. 
The  Kaisar  went  away  grieved,  and  soon  after  fell 
ill  of  a  fever,  and  died  at  Well  in  Austria  in  his 
fifty-ninth  year,  in  1519.     A  chest  he  had  always 


Maximilian. 


269 


carried  about  with  him  for  the  last  four  years 
tui-ned  out  to  be  his  coffin,  and  he  was  buried  by 
his  own  desire  at  Neustadt,  though  he  had  built 
himself  a  most  beautifid  monument  at  Innspruck. 


CHAPTER   XXVn. 

CHARLES  v., 1519-1529. 

ON  the  death  of  Maximilian,  the  Empire  waa 
coveted  by  tliree  kings,  Henry  VIII.  of  Eng- 
land, Francis  I.  of  France,  and  Charles  *  of  Spain. 
Henry,  however,  on  enquiry,  found  that  he  was 
better  off  in  England  than  he  would  have  been 
with  the  addition  of  the  stormy  Empire,  and  gave 
up  all  thoughts  of  offering  himself,  but  Francis  de- 
clared that  he  and  Charles  were  both  suitors  for 
the  same  lady,  and  sent  wagon-loads  of  treasure  to 
decide  her  choice. 

The  Electors,  however,  wished  to  choose  the 
good  Frederick  the  Wise  of  Saxony,  and  would 
have  done  so  but  that  he  declared  that  the  Em- 
peror ought  to  have  much  larger  lands  of  his  own 

*  In  Gerinaiiy   Karl,   in   Spain   Carlos,  but  he  is   generally 
known  by  his  Flemish  name  Charles. 

270 


Charles    V. 


271 


than  his  half  of  Saxony,  in  order  to  be  able  to 
protect  the  country  from  the  Turks,  and  he  also 
thought  himself  too  old  for  such  a  charge.     He, 


CHARLES   V. 


therefore,  led  them  to  choose  the  late  Kaisar's 
grandson,  Charles  of  Ilapsburg,  Archduke  of  Aus- 
tria, and  lord  of  all  the  little  fiefs  that  made  up  the 


272        Young  Folhs*  Hutory  of  Germany-, 

Low  Countries,  as  well  as  King  of  all  Spain,  Naples, 
and  Sicily,  though  his  mother,  the  poor,  crazy 
Juana,  was  still  alive,  watching  her  husband's 
coffin,  in  hopes  that  he  would  wake  again. 

Charles  had  been  born  at  Ghent  with  the  cen- 
tury, and  was  only  nineteen.  His  aunt  Margarethe 
had  educated  him  at  Brussels,  and  he  was  more  of 
a  Fleming  than  anything  else.  He  was  the  exact 
contrary  of  his  brilliant  grandfather,  grave,  silent, 
thoughtful,  very  slow  in  making  up  his  mind,  but 
never  changing  his  purpose  when  he  had  once  de- 
cided. He  was  long  in  growing  up,  and  had  a 
sensitive  nervous  timidity  about  him,  which  he 
only  kept  under  by  very  strong  self-control.  He 
was  a  religious  man,  and  anxious  for  the  good  of 
the  Church,  and  he  set  before  him  from  the  first 
two  great  works  as  the  duty  of  the  head  of  the 
Holy  Roman  Empire  —  namely,  to  hold  a  general 
council  for  the  purifying  of  the  Church,  and  to 
have  a  crusade  to  drive  back  the  Turks ;  but  in 
both  these  he  was  hindered  all  through  his  reign  by 
the  jealously  of  Francis  I. 

Luther  wrote  to  him  on  the  state  of  the  Church 
in  strong  and  bitter  words,  and  at  the  same  time 
Pope  Leo  X.  put  forth  a  bull  denouncing  Luther's 
teaching,  and  commanding  that  if  he  did  not  re- 


Charles   V.  273 

cant  within  sixty  days  he  should  be  sent  to  Rome 
and  dealt  with  as  a  heretic.  This  bull  was  burnt 
by  Luther  and  his  scholars  in  the  market-place  at 
Wittenberg,  all  his  friends  refused  to  publish  it, 
and  he  appealed  from  it  to  a  General  Council  of 
the  Church. 

Charles  called  together  a  Diet  to  meet  at  Wurms, 
on  the  6th  of  January,  1521,  and  invited  Luther 
tliither  with  a  safe-conduct.  It  was  feared  that 
tliis  might  be  no  more  heeded  than  the  safe-conduct 
of  Siegmund  to  Huss,  but  Luther  declared  he 
would  go  "  though  there  should  be  as  many  devils 
at  Wurms  as  there  were  tiles  on  the  roofs,"  and  he 
came  into  the  city  in  a  wagon  chanting  Psalms. 

The  Diet  was  the  largest  that  had  ever  met  in 
Germany,  for  Luther's  friends  mustered  there  to 
protect  him,  and  an  old  captain  of  landsknechts, 
George  of  Freundsburg,  came  and  shook  him  by 
the  hand,  saying,  "Little  monk,  thou  art  on  a 
march,  and  charge  such  as  we  captains  never  saw 
in  our  bloodiest  battle,  but  if  thy  cause  be  just.  On 
in  God's  name,  He  will  not  forsake  thee."  Luther 
was  asked  whether  he  had  ^vritten  the  books  that 
were  before  the  Diet.  He  said  yes,  and  began  to 
defend  himself  in  Latin.  Charles  deemed  him 
rouorh  and  coarse,  and  said,  '•  This  is  not  the  man 


274        Young  Folks'  History  of  G-ermany. 

to  make  me  a  heretic."  The  Emperor  thought  a 
Diet  was  not  the  place  for  discussing  religious  mat- 
ters, and  so  would  only  have  him  asked  by  the 
Chancellor  whether  he  would  recant,  or  run  the 
risks  of  the  law  against  heretics.  Luther  looked 
around,  and  said,  "  Here  I  am.  I  can  no  other- 
wise.    God  help  me.     Amen." 

The  clergy  held  other  arguments  with  him,  but 
he  had  gone  on  to  dispute  many  doctrines  besides 
that  of  the  power  of  the  Pope  to  pardon  sin,  and 
it  was  plain  there  could  be  no  agreement.  Charles 
would  not  let  liis  safe-conduct  be  %dolated,  but 
Luther's  friends,  not  trusting  to  this,  sent  liim 
away  secretly  by  night,  and  fearing  he  might  be  ar- 
rested at  Wittenberg,  the  Elector  of  Saxony  caused 
him  to  be  waylaid  on  the  road  by  men  who  passed 
for  robbers.  They  disguised  liim  as  a  Junker,  as 
squires  were  called,  and  carried  him  off  to  the 
Tower  of  Wartburg,  where  he  spent  his  time  in 
translating  the  Bible  into  German. 

Charles  at  this  Diet  divided  his  lands  of  Austria 
with  liis  younger  brother  Ferdinand,  who  married 
Anne,  the  daughter  of  Ladislaf,  King  of  Hungary 
and  Bohemia.  Ferdinand  was  a  man  whom  every 
one  liked,  and  was  a  most  faithful  brother  to 
Charles,  who  left  him  to  govern  in  Germany  when 


T.rTHKK    AT    WAIiTCUKG. 


Charles    V.  277 

he  liimself  was  obliged  to  return  to  Spain,  because 
Ills  old  tutor,  Adrian  of  Utrecht,  whom  he  had  left 
to  govern  there,  had  been  chosen  Pope.  Adrian 
was  a  good  man,  and  Charles  hoped  by  his  help  to 
reform  the  Church,  but  he  was  too  good  for  the 
wicked  court  of  Rome,  and  was  soon  poisoned.  A 
Pope  was  elected,  named  Clement  VII.,  whose 
great  desire  was  to  prevent  any  council  that  could 
lessen  the  gains  of  the  Pope  and  Cardinals. 

Francis  I.  had  begun  a  war  almost  immediately 
on  Charles's  election,  on  four  different  quarrels, 
namely,  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  the  dukedom  of 
Milan,  and  the  French  fiefs  of  the  Low  Countries, 
all  which  Francis  said  belonged  to  him,  and  the 
kingdom  of  Navarre,  which  was  a  Spanish  (quarrel. 
C'harles  said  that  he  praised  God  that  he  did  not 
begin  the  war,  and  that  when  they  left  off,  one  or 
other  of  them  would  be  much  poorer  than  when  they 
began. 

And  indeed,  in  the  Spaniards  Charles  had  the 
very  best  soldiers  then  in  the  world,  and  could  do 
almost  anything  with  them,  so  that  he  at  once 
drove  the  French  out  of  Milan.  His  chief  general 
was  the  Marquis  of  Pescara,  a  Neapolitan  noble, 
and  on  a  quarrel  with  his  master,  the  chief  noble- 
man in  France,  the  Constable  of  Bourbon  deserted 


278         Young  Folks    History  of  Germany. 

to  him.  The  King  invaded  Italy  and  beseiged 
Pavia,  but  Pescara  and  Bourbon  marched  against 
him,  routed  his  army,  made  him  prisoner,  and  sent 
him  to  Charles  at  Madrid.  Charles  would  have  no 
rejoicings,  as  he  said  that  a  war  between  Christian 
kings  was  only  a  matter  for  sorrow.  He  would 
only  release  Francis  on  condition  of  his  giving  up 
all  claims  to  the  Sicilies  and  ^lilan,  and  also  the 
duchy  of  Burgundy,  which  had  gone  back  to  the 
croAvn  on  the  death  of  Charles  the  Bold.  Francis 
raged  at  first  and  said  he  would  rather  give  up  his 
crown,  but  soon  he  pined  himself  ill,  and  then 
made  an  oath,  with  no  subject  of  Charles  to  hear 
him,  that  he  was  under  constraint,  and  should  not 
hold  himself  bound  by  his  promises.  Then  he 
engaged  to  do  all  Charles  had  demanded,  and  was 
taken  to  the  frontier  and  set  fi'ee,  giving  his  two 
little  sons  as  hostages. 

But  he  would  not  keep  his  word  nor  give  up  the 
duchy  of  Burgundy,  and  made  a  league  with 
Clement  VII.,  who  wanted  to  prevent  the  Emperor 
from  forcing  him  to  call  a  council.  He  suffered, 
however,  for  this  league,  for  there  were  a  number 
of  wild  landsknechts  in  the  north  of  Italy,  with  the 
Constable  of  Bourbon  and  George  of  Freundsberg, 
and  they  took  it  into  their  heads  to  march  to  Kome 


Charles   V.  279 

and  plunder  it,  meaning  to  go  on  to  Naples,  and 
make  Bourbon  king.  The  Pope  had  no  troops 
able  to  make  much  defence,  though  Bourbon  was 
shot  dead  as  he  was  about  to  enter.  The  lawless 
soldiers  spread  all  over  the  city,  and  the  Pope  shut 
himself  up  in  the  Castle  of  St.  Angelo.  There  was 
horrible  cruelty,  plunder,  and  sacrilege  for  many 
days,  before  the  soldiers,  fairly  worn  out  with 
their  excesses,  could  be  got  out  of  Rome  by  Lannoy, 
Charles's  Flemish  governor  of  Naples.  The  French 
army  in  the  north  of  Italy  caught  the  plague  that 
had  begun  among  the  landsknechts  at  Rome,  and 
nearly  all  perished,  and  Francis  was  obUged  again 
to  make  peace.  His  mother  and  Charles's  aunt 
]\Iargaretlie  met  at  Cambria  and  settled  the  terms. 
It  was  caiied  the  Ladies'  Peace,  and  was  signed  in 
1529. 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

CHARLES   v., 1530-1535. 

AFTER  the  Ladies'  Peace  was  signed,  Charles 
V.  met  Clement  VIII.  at  Bologna,  and  was 
crowned  King  of  Italy  and  Roman  Emperor.  He 
urged  Clement  so  strongly  to  hold  a  council  that 
there  was  no  withstanding  liim.  The  Pope  prom- 
ised to  send  out  letters,  and  Charles  went  to  hold 
a  diet  at  Augsburg,  to  take  measures  for  driving 
back  the  Turks,  and  setting  Europe  at  peace  from 
without  as  well  as  within. 

During  the  nine  years  since  the  Diet  of  Wurms, 
the  opinions  of  Luther  had  made  great  progress. 
Luther  had,  after  about  eighteen  months,  come 
back  from  Wartburg,  because  Carlstadt,  one  of  his 
pupils,  was  doing  such  wild  things  at  Wittenberg, 
that  it  was  needful  to  interfere.     Luther  had,  how- 

280 


Charles   V.  281 

ever,  come  to  think  convents  and  monastic  vows 
were  harmful,  and  those  monks  and  nuns  who  ac- 
cepted his  teaching  left  their  convents,  and  many 
priests  married.  There  was  no  vow  to  hinder 
priests  from  wedlock,  but  monks  and  nuns  had 
2)romised  not  to  marry.  However,  Luther  thought 
them  not  binding,  and  himself  married  Katherine 
Bora,  one  of  five  nuns  who  had  been  carried  out 
of  their  convent  in  empty  beer  barrels. 

When  all  these  changes  were  happening,  the 
peasants,  Avho  had  been  horribly  ill-used  for  ages, 
made  a  great  rising  in  Swabia,  Franconia,  Elsass, 
and  Thuringia.  Their  cliief  leader  was  one  Thomas 
Miinzer,  who  declared  that  all  men's  goods  ought 
to  be  in  common,  and  led  about  a  host  of  miners, 
laborers,  and  woocUnen,  who  perpetrated  the  most 
horrid  cruelties  on  the  unfortunate  nobles  and  la- 
dies who  fell  into  their  hands,  and  forced  some  of 
the  knights  to  march  in  their  ranks,  while  they 
wandered  about,  sacking  every  castle  and  convent 
whose  walls  were  not  strong  enough  to  keep  them 
out.  Troops  were  raised  by  Philip,  Landgraf  of 
Hesse,  Heinrich,  Duke  of  Brunswick,  and  Johann, 
brother  of  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  and  met  the 
peasants  at  Frankenhausen.  Miinzer  pointed  to  a 
rainbow  in  the  sky,  and  told  his  poor  deluded  fol 


282        YouHij  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

lowers  that  it  was  the  pledge  of  victory,  but  they 
were  trodden  down  by  the  well-armed  knights  and 
slaughtered  like  sheep.  Miinzer  himself  was  found 
hidden  in  a  hayloft  and  executed.  One  prisoner, 
when  asked  how  he  had  fared,  said,  "  Ah,  sir  !  the 
rule  of  the  peasants  is  ten  times  worse  than  the 
rule  of  a  knight."  Every  one  was  hot  against  these 
unhappy  peasants,  except  the  good  Elector  Fried- 
rich,  who  said  if  they  were  brutal  savages  it  was 
the  fault  of  the  princes  who  had  left  them  to  be- 
come so,  and  whose  heart  was  broken  by  the  evils 
around  him.  He  died  soon  after,  saying  he  knew 
not  where  to  find  faith  or  truth  on  earth,  and  was 
succeeded  by  his  brother  Johann. 

A  diet  had  been  held  by  the  Archduke  Ferdi- 
nand at  Speier,  in  the  hope  of  opening  the  eyes  of 
the  Germans  to  the  need  of  supporting  his  brother- 
in-law,  Ludwig,  King  of  Hungary,  against  the 
Turks,  but  they  would  attend  to  notliing  but  the 
disputes  between  Luther  and  the  Church,  and  he 
could  get  no  aid  against  the  common  enemy,  while 
they  decided  that  each  prince  might  have  whatever 
form  of  doctrine  he  chose  in  his  lands,  and  there- 
upon the  Elector  of  Saxony,  the  Landgraf  of  Hesse,- 
and  some  others,  had  all  the  churches  given  over 
to  the  Lutherans,  and  seized  the  abbeys  and  the 


Charles   V.  283 

lands  of  the  bishoprics.  Albrecht  of  Brandenburg, 
Grand  Master  of  the  Teutonic  Order  of  Knights, 
followed  their  example,  helped  himself  to  the  lands 
of  the  Order  in  Prussia,  and  obtained  investiture 
of  them  from  the  King  of  Poland, 

Thus  left  unaided,  Ludwig  of  Hungary  and  Bo- 
hemia was  defeated  and  killed  by  the  Turks  in  the 
terrible  battle  of  Mohatz,  in  1527.  Ferdinand  was  at 
once  chosen  King  of  Bohemia,  but  a  Trausylvanian, 
named  Johann  Zapoyla,  was  chosen  King  of  Hun- 
gary, and  called  in  the  Sultan  Solyman  to  suppoit 
him.  They  even  laid  siege  to  Vienna,  but  Ferdi- 
nand beat  them  off,  drove  the  Turks  beyond  the 
Danube,  and  was  crowned  King  of  Hungary.  B(i- 
hemia  and  Hungary  have  ever  since  had  kings  cf 
the  House  of  Austria. 

Ferdinand  being  now  stronger,  held  another  diet 
at  Speier,  in  1529,  where  the  Catholics  were  in  the 
larger  numbers,  and  ordained  that,  till  the  council 
should  be  held,  there  should  be  no  more  changes 
in  religion,  and  that  Mass  should  be  said  in  the 
churches.  The  Lutherans  made  a  protest  against 
this  edict,  and  they  were  therefore  called  Protest- 
ants. The  name  gradually  spread  to  all  who  broke 
from  the   Roman  Catholic  Church,  but  it  properly 


284        Yomig  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

meant  those  who  protested  against  the  edict  of 
Speier. 

It  was  high  time  that  Charles  should  be  at  home, 
and  he  came  immediately  after  his  coronation  in 
1530,  and  summoned  a  great  diet  at  Augsburg. 
The  Protestants  prepared  for  it  by  drawing  up  a 
great  confession  of  their  faith.  It  was  chiefly  the 
work  of  Philip  Melancthon,  a  very  good  and 
learned  man,  a  great  friend  of  Luther,  and  it  has 
ever  since  been  looked  upon  as  the  great  tuxj?  of 
faith  of  the  Lutherans. 

The  Protestants  wanted  to  read  the  confession  in 
the  great  hall  of  the  council,  but  this  was  not  per- 
mitted, and  it  was  read  in  a  chapel  that  would  only 
hold  200  persons,  but  as  the  windows  were  open, 
every  one  who  chose  could  hear  it.  Charles,  not 
knowing  German  well,  wished  it  to  be  read  in 
Latin,  but  Johann  of  Saxou}'-  said  that  on  German 
soil  it  nuist  be  read  in  the  mother  tongue.  Charles 
listened  courteously,  and  accepted  a  copy  both  in 
Latin  and  German,  but  gave  no  opinion,  since  all 
was  to  be  put  off  to  the  council,  and  in  the  mean- 
time the  Latin  service  and  old  rites  were  to  go  on. 
Philip  of  Hesse  and  Johann  of  Saxony  on  this 
went  off  from  the  diet,  and  with  five  more  pxince« 


CHAKLES  V.  AND   FUGGER. 


Charles    V.  287 

and  twelve  towns  formed,  at  the  city  of  Sehmal- 
kalde,  a  league  for  the  defence  of  their  doctrine. 

In  the  meantime  the  rest  of  the  diet  elected  the 
Emperor's  brother,  Ferdinand,  King  of  the  Romans, 
and  Charles  strove  with  all  his  might  to  array  his 
forces  for  an  attack  on  the  •  Turks,  but  the  league 
refused  to  stir  unless  he  permitted  the  Protestants 
to  have  their  own  way. 

The  need  was  so  great  that,  at  Xuremburg,  Charles 
made  peace,  consenting  that  things  should  remain 
as  they  were  till  the  council,  and  he  thus  succeeded 
in  getting  the  Germans  together  to  the  number  of 
120,000,  upon  wliich  the  Sultan  retreated  and  lett 
Hungary  in  peace. 

Charles  now  determined  to  attack  the  Turks  and 
their  allies  the  Moors  in  their  settlement  on  the 
coast  of  Africa,  where  there  were  several  seaports, 
such  as  Tunis  and  Algiers,  which  were  perfect 
nests  of  pirates.  These  Moorish  ships  continually 
tormented  the  coasts  of  Spain  and  Italy,  carrying 
off  the  inhabitants,  and  forcing  them  to  the  miser- 
able life  of  slaves,  rowing  their  galleys,  until  some 
ransom  should  arrive.  To  put  an  ejid  to  the&*» 
robberies,  Charles  mustered  all  his  Aragonese  ships 
as  well  as  the  German  soldiers,  and  \vith  the  aid  of 
the  Genoese  and  the  Knights  of  St.  John,  he  most 


288         Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

gallantly  captured  Tunis,  and  set  free  no  less  than 
22,000  Christian  slaves,  who  were  shut  up  in  dun- 
geons, toiling  in  gardens,  or  at  the  fortifications,  or 
laboring  at  the  oar. 

He  had  been  obliged  to  borrow  very  heavily  of 
the  great  merchant,  Fiigger  of  Augsburg,  to  fit  out 
tliis  expedition.  The  next  time  he  came  to  Augs- 
burg, Fugger  begged  for  the  honor  of  entertaining 
him.  A  fire  was  burning  on  the  hearth  full  of 
sweet  odors  from  precious  spices  and  woods.  The 
Emperor  said  it  was  the  most  costly  fire  he  had 
ever  seen.  "  It  shall  be  more  costly  still,"  said  the 
merchant,  and  into  it  he  threw  all  the  bonds  for 
the  sum  due  to  him  from  Charles. 


"    CHAPTER    XXIX. 


CHARLES  v.,   1635. 

IT  was  not  till  Clement  VII.  and  Francis  I.  were 
both  dead  that  Charles  V.,  after  fifteen  years' 
waiting,  was  able  to  have  the  Council  of  the  West- 
ern Church  really  summoned.  Clement  was  al- 
ways putting  it  off,  and  Francis  took  advantage  of 
every  disaster  that  befell  Charles  to  harass  him. 
In  an  expedition  which  Charles  made  to  Algiers, 
his  fleet  was  shattered  by  a  tempest,  and  Francis 
immediately  began  a  fresh  war  with  him ;  and 
when  Charles  had  to  ask  leave  to  travel  through 
France,  when  he  wanted  to  go  from  Spain  to  Flan- 
ders, Francis  feasted  him  splendidly,  but  tormented 
him  to  give  the  duchy  of  Milan  to  the  Dauphin 
Henry. 

When,   however,    these   two    were    dead,  Pope 
Paul  II.  called  on  the  Council  to  meet  at  Trent  in 

289 


290         Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

the  Tyrol,  but  in  the  time  that  had  been  lost  the 
Protestants  had  grown  mnch  more  hostile.  Luther, 
who  had  always  been  loyal  to  the  Kaisar,  was  dead, 
and  so  was  Henry  VIII.  of  England,  so  that  it  was 
much  more  difficult  to  get  together  any  but  Sj)an- 
ish,  and  Italian,  and  Austrian  clergy,  all  strong 
Roman  Catholics.  They  met  in  1545,  and  the  first 
thing  they  did  was  to  condemn  all  translations  of 
the  Bible  that  were  not  the  same  with  the  Latin  one 
made  by  St.  Jerome  in  the  fifth  century,  and  this 
showed  the  Lutherans,  as  they  said,  that  there  was 
no  chance  for  them  of  a  fair  hearing,  so  they  re- 
fused to  come.  The  head  of  the  Schmalkaldic 
League  was  now  Johann  Friedrich,  Elector  of 
Saxony,  nej)hew  to  Friedrich  the  Wise,  and  a  war 
began  between  him  and  the  Emperor.  They  were 
on  the  opposite  sides  of  the  river  Elbe  at  Muhldorf. 
A  miller,  whose  horses  the  Saxons  had  seized, 
showed  the  Emperor's  Sj)aniards  the  way  across 
the  river,  and  Johann  Friedrich  was  surprised  in 
his  camp.  He  fought  bravely,  but  was  made  pris- 
oner, and  led  to  Charles.  His  kinsman,  Moritz, 
Duke  of  the  other  half  of  Saxony,  had  married  the 
daughter  of  Philip,  Landgraf  of  Hesse.  Though 
he  was  a  Lutheran,  he  held  with  the  Emperor,  who 
promised  to  make  him  Elector  instead  of  Johami 


Charles   V.  291 

Friedrich.  Sybilla  of  Cleves,  wife  to  Johann 
Friedrich,  held  out  Wittenberg  against  the  Em- 
pefor,  but  Charles  made  it  known  that  he 'should 
behead  the  Elector  unless  the  city  were  given  up, 
and  she  was  obliged  to  yield.  When  he  came  into 
the  city  he  would  not  let  liis  Spanish  subjects  dis- 
turb Luther  in  his  grave,  nor  would  he  stop  the 
Lutheran  service,  saying  liis  war  was,  not  with 
religion,  but  with  treason. 

The  other  Protestant  princes  were  forced  to  sur- 
render, one  by  one.  Moritz  of  Saxony  broiight  in 
his  father-in-law,  Philip  of  Hesse,  on  the  under- 
standing that  he  should  be  safe,  Av-ithout  any  {einiges) 
imprisonment,  but  Charles  caused  liim  to  be  shut 
up  in  a  fortress,  and  it  appeared  that  the  word  they 
had  read  einiges  was  really  eiviges,  or  perpetual. 
This  was  \dewed  as  a  terrible  breach  of  Charles's 
word. 

He  had  forced  the  Protestants  to  send  repre- 
sentatives to  the  Council,  but  behold,  there  was  no 
Council  to  go  to.  Paul  H.  had  been  drawn  by  his 
greedy  kindred,  the  Farnese  family,  to  ask  for 
lands  in  Italy  that  Charles  would  not  grant,  and 
then  had  allied  liimself  with  Henry  II.  of  France, 
begun  a  war  in  Italy,  and  called  back  liis  Italians 
from  the  Council. 


292        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

No  more  could  be  clone,  and  Charles  was  bitterly 
disappointed.  He  called  together  a  diet  at  Augs- 
burg^to  settle  what  was  to  be  done.  The  Germans 
were  very  angry  at  the  defeat  of  their  princes  by 
his  Spanish  soldiers,  and  looked  on  him  more  as  a 
foreign  conqueror  than  as  their  Emperor ;  and,  on 
the  other  hand,  many  of  them  were  so  coarse  and 
boorish,  and  such  drunkards,  that  Charles,  and  the 
Flemish,  Spanish,  and  Italian  gentlemen  despised 
them.  All  Charles  could  do  was  to  cause  one 
Lutheran  and  two  Catholic  divines  to  draw  up  a 
code  of  rules  for  worship  that  might  be  observed  in 
the  Interim,  till  the  Council  could  meet  again,  but 
this  Interim  pleased  no  one,  and  was  distrusted 
by  everybody. 

Charles  further  offended  the  Germans  by  show- 
ing that  he  wanted  them  to  engage  to  elect  his  son 
Philip  King  of  the  Romans  when  Ferdinand  should 
become  Emperor,  instead  of  Ferdinand's  son,  Max- 
imilian. Philip  would  of  course  be  King  of  Spain, 
and  he  was  a  thorough  Spaniard,  grave,  cold,  and 
gloomy,  while  Maximilian  was  a  bright,  kindly, 
gracious  German.  They  would  make  no  such 
promise,  and  showed  further  displeasure  when 
Charles  refused  to  release  Philip  of  Hesse,  and  ou 
this  Moritz  of  Saxony  began  plotting  against  him 


Charles   V.  295 

The  city  of  ^Magdeburg  liad  never  accepted  the 
Interim,  and  Moritz  had  been  sent  to  reduce  it. 
He  turned  the  army  ho  was  commanding  against 
the  Kaisar  himself,  allied  liimself  with  Henry  H. 
of  France,  and  joined  the  discontented  Germans 
just  when  half  of  Charles's  Spanish  troops  were  in 
Hungary  fighting  with  the  Turks,  and  the  other 
half  in  Italy,  and  he  himself  was  lying  ill  of  the 
gout  at  Innspruck,  whither  he  had  gone  to  try 
to  collect  the  Council  once  more.  Such  a  sudden 
dash  did  Moritz  make  at  Innspruck  that  the  Em- 
peror had  to  rise  from  liis  bed,  and  be  carried  in  a 
litter  over  the  mountain  passes  by  torclilight.  He 
released  the  Elector,  Johami  Friedrich,  who,  how- 
ever, came  with  liim  rather  than  fall  into  the  hands 
of  liis  kinsman.  Moritz  would  have  pursued  them, 
but  his  troops  stopped  to  plunder  Innspruck,  and 
Charles  safely  reached  the  fortress  of  Villach  in 
Carinthia. 

The  Kinof  of  the  Romans  had  a  conference  with 
Moritz  at  Passau,  and  agreed  to  liis  conditions  — 
viz.,  that  the  Landgraf  should  be  released,  and  that 
each  German  prince  might  have  such  worship  as  he 
chose  in  liis  dominions,  on  which  Moritz  promised 
himself  to  head  a  crusade  against  the  Turks.  The 
Kaisar  was  forced  to  consent,  though  very  unAvill- 


296         Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

ingly,  and  Albrecht  of  Brandenburg  refused  to  be 
included  in  the  treaty,  being  really  notliing  but  a 
savage  robber,  whose  cruelties  were  shocking. 
Moritz  inarched  against  him,  and  defeated  liim  at 
Sievenhausen,  but  was  killed  in  the  moment  of  vic- 
tory, when  only  tliirty-two  years  old.  Albrecht 
fled  into  France,  and  there  soon  died,  but  his  family 
still  held  the  lands  of  the  Teutonic  order  wliich  he 
had  seized. 

Henry  II.  of  France  had  allied  himself  with 
Moritz,  called  himself  the  Protector  of  the  Liberties 
of  Germany,  and,  with  this  excuse,  seized  the  three 
Bishoprics  of  Metz,  Toul,  and  Verdim.  Charles 
in  vam  tried  to  retake  Metz.  He  was  much  broken 
and  aged,  and  had  been  deeply  grieved  by  the 
failure  of  the  Council  and  the  treason  of  Moritz, 
whom  he  had  loved  like  a  son.  At  a  diet  held  at 
Augsburg,  in  1555,  a  religious  peace  was  agreed  to, 
leaving  the  princes  free  to  establish  what  faith  they 
chose,  and  the  next  year  the  Emperor,  who  had 
long  ago  made  up  his  mind  to  give  up  liis  crowns, 
and  spend  his  age  in  devotion,  collected  his  j)eople 
at  Brussels,  and  there  gave  up  his  kingdoms  of 
Spain,  Naples,  and  the  Low  Countries  to  lus  son 
Philip,  and  Austria  to  his  brother  Ferdinand. 

He  then  retired  to  the  Convent  of  Yusle  in  Spain, 


CHARLES   V.    IN    THE   CLOISTER,   ST.   JUST- 


Charles    V. 


299 


where  he  spent  Ids  time  in  prayers,  and  in  his 
garden,  and  in  writing  letters  of  advice  to  his  son. 
One  of  liis  great  pleasures  was  studying  mechanics 
and  watclunaking,  and  there  is  a  story  that,  when 
he  found  no  two  of  his  clocks  would  keep  quite  the 
same  time,  he  said  that  it  was  just  the  same  with 
men's  minds.  His  two  sisters,  the  widowed  Queens 
of  France  and  Hungary,  lived  near,  and  saw  him 
constantly,  and  he  led  a  tranciuil  life  till  his  death 
in  1558. 


CHAPTER   XXX. 

FERDINAND  I., 1556-1564. 

I   FERDINAND  I.  was  already  well  known  and 

■*-       much  loved  and  respected  in  Germany,  where 

lie  had  served  his  brother  faithfully,  and  yet  won 

1,he  hearts  of  all  the  Germans,  who  knew  him  to  be 

j)erfectly  faithful  to  his  word;  so  much  so  that  when 

a  nobleman  to  whom  he  had  promised  some  favor 

acted  so  as  not  to  deserve  it,  he  still  gave  it,  saying 

he    cared  more  for  his  honor,  than  for  the   man's 

dishonor. 

The  fierce  old  Pope,  Paid  IV.,  who  was  chosen 

in  1555,  hated  all  the  House  of  Austria,  because  he 

vv^as  a  Neapolitan,  and  Spain  had  conquered  his 

native  kingdom,   and  he  would  not  acknowledge 

Ferdinand  except  on  condition  of  his  giving  up  the 

peace  of  Augsburg  and  persecuting  the  Protestants. 

But  this  Ferdinand  would  not  do,  for  the  '^eace 

300 


Ferdinand  I. 


301 


had  been  chiefly  of  his  oavii  making,  and  lie  believed 
that  if  the  Pope  woiild  give  up  some  of  the  customs 
of  the  Church  of  Rome  they  might  yet  be  brought 


FERDINAND    I. 


back  to  it.  Indeed  he  sent  into  Bohemia  the 
Jesuits,  a  body  of  priests  who  had  been  formed  in 
Spain,    specially    to   attend    tx)    education    and    to 


302         Young  Folks'  History  of  Crerinany. 

the  training  of  consciences,  and  tliey  brought  over 
a  great  many  of  the  old  Hussites  to  the  Churcli. 

Though  Ferdinand  kept  out  of  the  okl  Avar 
between  Spain  and  France,  while  that  was  still 
going  on  there  Avas  no  chance  of  calling  together 
again  the  Council  of  Trent;  but  when  at  last 
Henry  II.  of  France  was  thoroughly  beaten  in  the 
battle  of  St.  Quentin  by  Philip  II.  of  Spain,  both 
Emperor  and  Pope  were  anxious  for  it,  and  Bulls 
were  issued  inviting  all  nations  thereto,  and  also 
the  Protestants.  The  Protestants  met  at  Naum- 
burg  in  Saxony  to  receive  the  message,  which  was 
sent  to  them  by  Cardinal  Commendone.  The 
Elector  August,  son  to  Moritz,  took  the  lead,  and 
told  the  Cardinal  that  they  could  not  accept  the 
letters  because  the  Pope  called  them  his  sons  and 
they  did  not  own  him  for  their  father;  and  they 
spoke  so  violently  that  he  answered  them  thus  — 
"What,  mean  ye  by  these  bitter  words  against  one 
who  hath  undertaken  a  long  journey  in  the  cause 
of  Christian  unity  ?  "  And  then  he  reproached  them 
for  their  many  divisions  and  irreverent  wa3^s,  saying 
that  over  the  wine-pot  and  the  dice-box  people 
disputed  on  the  mysteries  of  religion.  They  were  a 
little  subdued  by  this  rebuke,  but  they  ended  by 
declarmg  that  whatever  the   Council  might  say, 


Ferdinand  I.  303 

they  would  hold  to  the  Confession  of  Augsburg. 
Only  the  Elector  Palatine,  who  had  taken  up  tlie 
teachings  of  Calvin,  which  went  even  further  from 
the  Roman  doctrine  than  did  those  of  Luther,  was 
very  loth  to  sign  the  Confession. 

The  Council  met  at  Trent,  and  Ferdinand  tried 
to  get  the  Bishops  to  consent  to  give  the  Cup  to  tlie 
laity,  to  let  priests  be  married  men,  to  have  parts 
of  the  service  in  the  language  of  the  country,  to 
put  a  stop  to  selling  indulgences,  and  to  have  fewer 
Cardinals,  and  better  rules  for  electing  the  Pope. 
The  French  wished  for  these  things  also,  but  the 
Italians  were  against  all  change  and  joined  with  the 
Spaniards  against  them.  There  was  much  fierce 
(juarrelling,  and  at  last,  though  some  rules  were 
made,  wliich  have  kept  the  Roman  Catholic  clergy 
in  better  order  ever  since,  and  prevented  indul- 
gences from  ever  being  sold,  they  would  make  no 
other  real  reform,  and  destroyed  all  hope  of  bring- 
ing back  the  Protestants  and  Calvinists.  Ferdi- 
nand said  the  Council  would  do  no  good  if  it  sat 
for  a  hundred  years,  and  was  very  glad  to  have  it 
broken  up.  However,  in  Germany,  to  please  the 
Emperor,  the  Pope,  for  a  time,  allowed  the  admin- 
istration of  the  Cup  and  the  marriage  of  the  clergy, 
and  Ferdinand  strove  hard  to  brinor  about  the  other 


304        Young  Folks'  History  of  Crermany. 

matters  he  had  asked  for.  He  succeeded  so  far 
that  there  is  a  part  of  the  service  still  in  German 
instead  of  Latin  in  Austria  and  the  Tyrol. 

Indeed  Ferdinand  was  a  great  peacemaker,  and  a 
thorougUy  good  man.  His  wife,  Anne  of  Hungary, 
was  an  excellent  woman,  and  his  eldest  son,  Maxi- 
milian, was  so  much  beloved  that  the  Electors 
heartily  chose  him  as  King  of  the  Romans.  He  was 
the  first  to  be  so  chosen,  without  the  coronation  of 
an  Emperor  by  the  Pope  to  make  way  for  him. 

Good  as  were  the  Imperial  family,  the  Empire 
was  in  a  sad  state ;  indeed  it  had  been  growing 
backwards  rather  than  forwards  in  all  good  things 
ever  since  the  time  of  Friedrich  Barbarossa.  Then 
the  Germans  had  been  quite  equal  with  the  English, 
French,  and  Italians  in  all  matters  of  improvement 
and  civilization,  but  first  the  Italian  wars  called  off 
their  Emperors,  and  then  there  were  quarrels  about 
their  election,  and  those  who  had  only  small 
hereditary  possessions  were  not  strong  enough  to 
keep  the  princes  and  nobles  in  order.  The  greater 
princes  and  the  free  towns  managed  to  establish 
some  rule,  and  the  Swabian  League  had  destroyed 
the  worst  of  the  lesser  independent  nobles.  Maxi- 
milian's arrangement  of  the  circles  did  some  good, 
but  Charles  the  Fifth's  reign  had  only  made  things 


Ferdinand   I.  305 

worse,  by  adding  quarrels  between  Protestant  and 
Roman  Catholic  to  all  the  rest.  He  had  indeed 
subdued  the  German  princes  by  his  Spanish  troops, 
but  they  felt  as  if  a  foreigner  had  conquered  them, 
and  hated  him.  Almost  every  mountain  pass  had 
a  robber  noble,  who  tormented  travelers,  and 
ground  down  his  vassals  by  liis  exactions.  The 
nobles  despised  learning,  and  were  terrible  drunk- 
ards and  gamesters,  so  that  their  diets  and  camps 
were  a  scandal  and  a  joke  to  other  nations,  and 
they  were  mostly  rude  and  boorish,  while  the 
burghers  and  merchants  whom  they  despised  were 
well-read,  thoughtful,  cultivated,  people.  Each 
prince  and  each  city  had  fixed  Avhich  form  of  doc- 
trine should  prevail.  In  the  Lutheran  ones  the 
lands  of  the  bishoprics  and  abbeys  had  been  seized 
but  in  some  of  these  the  nunneries  were  kept  up 
and  called  Chapters,  as  a  home  for  ladies  of  noble 
birth,  who  took  no  vows,  but  enjoyed  the  estates. 

Ferdinand  would  gladly  have  improved  matters^ 
but  he  was  already  an  old  man  when  he  became 
Emperor,  and  he  died  in  the  year  of  1564. 


CHAPTER  XXXT. 

MAXIMILIAN  II., 1564. 

MAXIMILIAN  II.  was  thirty-seven  years  of 
age  when  he  sncceeded  liis  father.  He  was 
a  kindly,  warm-hearted  man,  beloved  by  all,  and  he 
allowed  so  much  freedom  to  the  Lutherans  that  he 
was  sometimes  accused  of  being  one  himself.  He 
could  speak  six  languages  witli  ease,  and  King 
Henry  HI.  of  France  declared  that  he  was  the  most 
accomplished  gentleman  he  ever  met.  He  was  so 
industrious  that  his  chancellor  said  that  if  he  had 
not  been  Emperor  he  would  have  been  the  best  of 
chancellors,  and  he  was  always  ready  to  hear  the 
petitions  of  the  meanest  of  his  subjects.  His  Bohe- 
mian subjects  said  of  him  that  they  were  as  happy 
inider  him  as  if  he  had  been  their  father,  and  all  his 
people   would  have   given  tlije    same  character   of 

him. 

306 


Maximilian   II. 


307 


Unfortunately,  whatever  he  did  in  liis  own 
dominions  of  Austria,  Hungary,  and  Bohemia,  he 
held  little  power  over  the  princes  of  the  Empire, 


Maximilian    ii. 


and  they  would  not  listen  to  his  counsel.  It  had 
become  the  custom  of  the  Germans  to  go  forth  as 
soldiers,    calling    themselves    Landsknechts,    and 


308        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

hiring  themselves  out  to  fight,  no  matter  in  what 
cause,  provided  they  were  well  paid,  and  got  plentj 
of  plunder.  This  took  them  away  from  their  proper 
work ;  there  were  not  men  enough  left  to  till  the 
ground,  and  such  as  came  back  were  horribly  idle, 
lawless,  and  wicked,  unfit  for  a  peaceful  life. 
Maximilian  tried  to  get  the  Diet  to  forbid  the  men 
of  Germany  from  taking  service  with  other  princes, 
but  he  could  not  succeed,  and  Germans  fought  all 
through  the  Avars  in  France  and  the  Netherlands. 
However,  the  Diet  agreed  with  the  Kaisar  in  trpng 
to  put  down  the  horrible  lawlessness  of  some  of  the 
barons.  There  was  a  knight  called  Wilhelm  of 
( rrumbach  who  had  ravaged  Franconia  with  fire 
aad  sword,  and  had  ended  by  murdering  the  Bishop 
of  Wurtzburg.  He  liad  been  put  under  the  ban  of 
tbe  Empire,  but  Friedrich  of  Saxony,  son  of  the 
deprived  Elector,  Johann  Friediich,  thought  proper 
to  give  him  shelter  at  Gotha,  and  for  seven  years 
the  edict  could  not  be  performed,  but  at  last  the 
Elector  August  came  before  Gotha  with  an  army, 
and  forced  it  to  surrender,  when  Grumbach,  after 
being  barbarously  tortured,  was  torn  to  pieces  by 
wild  horses,  and  Friedrich  Avas  imprisoned,  and  de- 
prived of  liis  lands,  which  were  divided  between 
his  two  sons. 


Maximilian  II.  309 

Maximilian  was  a  firm  ally  of  Queen  Elizabeth, 
and  there  was  a  plan  at  one  time  of  one  of  his  many 
sons  marrying  her,  but  this  came  to  nothing.  His 
daughter  Elizabeth  married  Charles  IX.  of  France, 
and  was  quite  broken-liearted  by  the  cruelties  she 
saw  at  his  court.  Maximilian  himself  showed  the 
greatest  grief  and  indignation  at  tlie  Massacre  of  St. 
Bartholomew,  and  always  stood  up  for  what  wai^ 
just  and  merciful. 

His  wife  was  Maria,  daughter  to  Charles  V.,  foi 
the  Austrian  princes  were  far  too  apt  to  man-j 
their  cousins,  and  having  no  infusion  of  fresh  spirit, 
the  family  became  duller  and  duller,  and  none  of 
the  five  sons  of  Maximilian  were  equal  to  himself. 
The  third  of  them,  who  bore  the  same  name  as  his 
father,  was  elected  King  of  Poland  by  one  party, 
but  another  party  chose  Siegmund  of  Sweden,  and 
defeated  him.  Afterwards  he  was  made  Grand 
Master  of  the  remains  of  the  Teutonic  Order.  The 
estates  of  that  Order  in  Eastern  Prussia  could  not 
be  recovered  from  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg,  to 
whom  the  Grand  Master  Albrecht  had  left  them, 
for  the  Protestant  princes  mustered  very  strongly 
in  the  Diet,  and  would  not  give  up  a  fragment  of 
the  Church  lands  wliich  they  had  seized,  and  the 


310         Young  Folks'  History  of  G-ermany. 

Emperor   was  determined  not  to  go  to  war   with 
them. 

He  was  able  to  avoid  war  everywhere  but  in 
Hungary,  where  Johann  Siegmund,  Prince  of 
Transylvania,  attacked  him,  and  was  not  ashamed 
to  ask  the  aid  of  the  terrible  Sultan,  Solyman  the 
Magnificent.  The  enormous  army  of  Tiu'ks  ad- 
vanced up  the  Danube,  meaning  to  tiike  Vienna 
itself,  but  they  stopped  to  take  the  little  town  of 
Zagreth.  Here  the  brave  Count  Zrini  with  1500 
men  held  out  bravely.  The  place  was  m  the 
middle  of  a  bend  of  the  river,  and  had  strong  walls, 
so  that  the  Turks  had  to  throAv  in  earth  to  make 
roads,  and  raise  mounds  on  which  to  plant  their 
cannon.  Even  when  they  had  battered  down  part 
of  the  walls,  they  were  beaten  back  in  nineteen 
assaults  before  at  last  they  gained  a  footing  in  the 
outer  part  of  the  fortress.  Only  six  hundred  men 
were  left  within,  and  Count  Zrini,  seeing  all  hope 
gone,  took  the  keys  of  the  place,  and  with  liis 
father's  sword  in  his  hand  sallied  out  at  the  head 
of  his  men,  hoping  to  cut  their  way  through  the 
enemy.  He  was  slain  bravely  fighting,  and  his 
men  were  driven  back  into  the  castle,  and  were 
there  killed,  all  but  a  very  few,  whose  wonderful 
bravery  struck  even  the  Turkish  soldiers.      They 


Maximilian   II.  311 

had  stopped  the  Turks  for  a  whole  month,  and 
their  constancy  was  the  saving  of  then-  country,  for 
the  long  delay  in  tlie  unwholesome  marshes  caused 
an  illness,  of  which  the  Sultan,  Solyman  died,  and 
thus  the  invasion  was  prevented.  Peace  was  made 
with  the  new  Sultan,  Selim,  and  so  honorable  was 
the  Emperor,  that  when  a  great  league  was  made 
against  the  Turks  by  Spain,  Venice,  and  the  Pope, 
he  would  not  join  it,  saying  that  a  Clnistian  coidd 
never  be  justified  in  breaking  an  oath.  The  allies 
defeated  the  Turkish  fleet  in  the  glorious  sea-fight 
of  Lepanto,  and  crushed  their  strength,  but  Maxi- 
milian forbade  the  Hungarians  to  make  any  great 
show  of  rejoicing,  as  he  said  it  would  be  ungenerous 
to  insult  the  Turks  in  their  distress. 

The  crown  of  Poland  was  vacant  again,  and 
Idaximilian  proposed  to  the  Poles  to  choose  his 
third  son,  Ernst,  a  good,  upright  man,  but  with 
such  low  spirits  that  he  was  hardly  ever  seen  to 
smile.  The  Poles  would  not  have  him,  and  chose 
instead  the  Emperor  himself,  a  wise  choice,  for  he 
was  so  much  beloved  that  he  was  called  by  the 
Germans  after  the  Emperor  Titus,  "  the  delight  of 
the  world." 

Ernst's  melanclioly  seems  to  liave  been  inherited 
from  the  poor  crazed  Juana  of  Spain,  grandmother 


312         Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

to  both  Maximilian  and  his  wife,  and  it  often 
showed  itself  in  both  the  Austrian  and  Spani^ili 
lines.  Maximilian  himself,  though  bright  and 
cheerful,  had  never  been  strong,  and  he  died  sud- 
denly while  holding  a  diet  at  Regensburg,  in  his 
fiftieth  year,  on  the  12th  of  October,  1576.  His 
wife,  with  one  of  his  daughters,  then  went  into  a 
convent  in  Spain,  He  had  had  sixteen  childi-en,  of 
whom  nine  lived  to  grow  up. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

RUDOLF  II., 1576-1612. 

'  I  ^HE  weakest  and  least  sane  of  all  the  sons  ^i 
-■-  Maximilian  was  the  eldest,  Rudolf,  who  had 
already  been  chosen  King  of  the  Romans,  and  suc- 
ceeded his  father  in  1576.  He  was,  however,  in 
his  early  youth  full  of  liveliness  and  cheerfulness, 
living,  as  his  brothers  said,  too  familiarly  with  peo- 
ple of  all  ranks ;  and  he  was  a  man  of  much  read- 
ing, knowing  many  languages,  and  having  a  great 
turn  for  natural  science,  so  that  he  formed  botanical 
gardens,  and  collected  a  menagerie  of  foreign  ani- 
mals. He  began  the  great  museum  of  gems, 
statues,  and  pictures  at  Vienna,  and  encouraged 
learning,  especially  in  Bohemia,  where  there  were 
such  good  schools  that  most  of  the  burghers  were 
familiar  with  the  old  Greek  and  Latin  poets.     He 

also  was  very   fond   of  chemistry  and  astronomy, 
313 


314         Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

and  brought  to  liis  court  the  two  men  who  had 
gone  the  farthest  in  the  study  of  the  stars,  Tycho 
Brahe,  a  Swede,  and  Kepler,  a  Wurtemburgher. 

In  those  days,  however,  chemistry  and  astron- 
omy had  two  false  sisters  —  alcheni}',  an  endeavor 
to  find  the  philosopher's  stone,  and  therewith  make 
gold ;  and  astrology,  which  was  supposed  to  fore- 
tell a  man's  fate  by  calcidating  the  influences  of 
the  planets  which  stood  foremost  in  the  sky  at  his 
birth.  These  two  vain  studies  seem  to  have  turned 
Rudolf's  head.  An  astrologer  told  him  that  he 
would  die  by  the  hand  of  one  of  the  next  generation 
of  his  own  kindred  ;  and  to  prevent  this  murderer 
from  being  born  he  would  neither  marry  himself 
nor  let  any  of  his  five  brothers  marry,  except  Al- 
brecht,  who  would  have  seemed  the  most  unlikely 
of  all,  since  he  was  a  Cardinal.  As  he  had  never 
really  taken  Holy  Orders,  he  was  chosen  as  the 
husband  of  Isabel  Clara  Eugenia,  the  daughter  of 
Philip  II.  of  Spain,  and  sent  vdth  her  to  govern 
Flanders,  and  what  remained  of  the  Netherlands 
after  Holland  and  the  other  six  provinces  had 
broken  loose  from  Pliilip  II.  Fear  of  the  possible 
murder,  however,  grew  on  Rudolf,  and  he  ceased 
to  go  out  or  hold  audiences  with  his  people,  attend- 


^B^^im 


Rudolf  11.  317 

iig  to  nothing  but  his  alchemy  and  his  horses,  of 
v^hich  he  had  a  magnificent  collection. 

In  the  meantime  things  fell  into  disorder,  and 
began  to  work  towards  a  civil  war.  Germany  was 
divided  into  three  great  parties  —  the  Roman 
('atholics,  of  whom  the  chief  was  Maximilian,  Duke 
of  Bavaria ;  the  Lutherans,  whose  principal  leaders 
"were  the  Electors,  Johann  Siegmund  of  Branden- 
burg and  Johann  George  of  Saxony ;  and  the  Cal- 
vinists,  under  Prince  Christian  of  Anhalt  and  the 
Pfalzgraf  or  Elector  Palatine  of  the  Rhine. 

The  free  city  of  Donauwerth  was  chiefly  Prot^ 
estant,  but  there  was  a  Benedictine  abbey  within 
it,  where  the  monks  were  undisturbed,  on  condition 
that  they  should  make  no  processions.  For  many 
years  they  had  refrained,  but  when  the  Rogation 
tide  of  1605  came  round,  they  went  forth,  as  of  old., 
to  sing  litanies  and  bless  the  crops.  The  magis- 
trates stopped  them,  sent  back  the  banners  to  the 
abbey,  but  let  the  procession  go  on.  The  Bishop 
of  Wurtzburg  complained  to  the  Aulic  Council, 
and  a  citation  was  sent  to  the  magistrates,  Avliich, 
however,  was  placed  in  the  Abbot's  hands,  and  lie 
did  not  show  it  till  he  found  he  was  not  to  be  al- 
lowed another  procession.  The  magistrates  tried 
to  keep  the  peace,  but  the  people  had  been  worked 


318        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

up  into  a  fury,  and  assaulted  a  funeral  procession, 
destroying  the  banners  and  diiving  back  the  monks. 
On  this  Donauwerth  was  laid  under  the  ban  of  the 
Empire,  and  the  Duke  of  Bavaria  was  sent  to  carry 
it  out.  He  did  not  act  with  violence,  but  marched 
into  the  city,  which  was  able  to  make  no  resistance, 
restored  the  chief  church  to  the  Catholics,  and 
united  the  city  to  his  own  duchy,  to  which  it  had 
formerly  belonged. 

The  whole  reformed  part}^  was  offended,  and 
formed  into  a  great  league.  The  Lutherans  seem 
chiefly  to  have  meant  to  keep  all  they  had  taken 
from  the  Church,  but  the  Calvinists  had  hopes  of 
depriving  the  House  of  Austria  of  the  Empire. 
]\laximilian  of  Bavaria  formed  a  CathoUc  League 
in  self-defence. 

In  the  midst  of  these  disturbances  the  Duke  of 
Cleves  died,  and  Ms  duchy  was  disputed  between 
the  sons  of  his  two  sisters  —  the  Elector  of  Bran- 
denburg and  young  Duke  Wolfgang  of  Neuburg. 
They  were  both  Lutherans,  and  Wolfgang,  at  a  con- 
ference between  them,  said  the  best  way  of  settling 
the  matter  would  be  for  him  to  marry  his  rival's 
daughter.  The  Elector  was  so  angry  at  this  pro- 
posal that  he  boxed  the  young  man's  ears,  where- 
upon   Wolfgang,  in   his   anger,  became  a   Roman 


Rudolf  IL  319 

Catholic,  and  asked  for  help  from  Spain  and  Bava- 
ria. On  the  other  hand  the  Elector  became  a 
Calvinist,  and  was  more  active  in  the  affairs  of  the 
union.  The  Emperor  tried  to  interfere,  but  in  vain, 
and  the  country  of  Julich  and  Cleves  was  divided 
between  the  two  for  a  time. 

In  the  meantime  Rodolf's  neglect  of  business 
had  led  to  such  confusion  in  both  Austria  and 
Hungary  that  they  revolted  against  him,  and  forced 
him  to  give  them  up  to  his  brother  Matthias  in 
1606.  Only  Bohemia  was  left  to  him,  and  he  hoped 
to  keep  that  by  putting  forth  a  Letter  of  Majesty 
granting  freedom  of  worship  and  equal  rights  to 
che  Hussites  and  Protestants,  but  he  allowed  his 
cousin  Leopold,  Bishop  of  Passau,  to  raise  an  army 
in  the  Catholic  interest.  The  Bohemians,  seeing 
that  he  could  not  be  trusted,  called  in  ]\Iatthias, 
and  deposed  Rudolf,  though  they  still  allowed  liim 
his  palace  at  Prague,  where  he  could  go  on  with 
his  experiments  with  Tycho  Brahe,  who  though  a 
great  astronomer,  was  as  superstitious  as  himself. 
There  was  a  comet  in  1607,  which  the  Emperor 
thought  had  come  on  his  account.  His  fears  of 
assassination  increased.  He  would  never  go  to 
church,  or  anywhere  else  except  to  his  stables,  and 
thither  he  had  a  passage  made  with  obJique  windows 


320         Young  Fonts'  Hiitory  of  Germany. 

in  tlie  thickness  of  the  wall  to  prevent  being  shot, 
and  the  whole  lined  with  black  marble,  to  show 
the  reflection  of  any  one  who  came  near  him.  His 
own  counsellors  and  foreign  envoys  had  to  disguise 
themselves  as  grooms  to  obtain  a  hearing,  and  he 
sometimes  flew  into  violent  rages  on  flnding  them 
out,  while  his  fits  of  melancholy  were  worse  than  ever. 

However,  he  roused  himself  to  hold  a  meeting  of 
the  Electors  at  Nuremburg,  told  them  how  he  was 
stripped  and  impoverished,  and  begged  for  a  grant 
of  revenues  from  the  Empire.  They  showed  him 
Jittle  pity,  saying  it  was  his  own  fault,  and  desiring 
1.0  have  a  diet  summoned  for  Electing  any  one  of 
Ids  brothers  King  of  the  Romans.  This  he  felt  to 
be  a  step  towards  taking  away  his  last  crown,  and 
lie  kept  on  putting  off  and  off  the  calling  of  the 
diet  till  the  Electors  lost  patience,  and  summoned 
it  for  themselves. 

This  was  the  last  blow.  His  depression  increased, 
and  he  pined  away  till  he  found  himself  dpng; 
then  he  brightened  up,  declaring  that  he  felt  as 
happy  as  when  in  his  youth  he  had  come  home  to 
Germany  after  a  visit  to  Spain,  for  now  he  was 
going  beyond  the  reach  of  change  and  sorrow.  He 
died  in  the  sixtieth  year  of  his  age,  and  the  thirty, 
seventy  of  liis  reign,  in  the  year  1612. 


CHAPTER   XXXIII. 

MATTHIAS, 1612-1G19. 

THE  new  Emperor,  Matthias,  was  a  good  and 
iipriglit  man,  who  had  only  taken  part 
against  his  elder  brother  because  he  saw  that  other- 
wise the  tliree  hereditary  states  would  be  lost  to 
the  House  of  Hapsbiu-g.  So  soon  as  he  had  freed 
himself  from  Rudolfs  fancies,  he  had  married  his 
cousin,  Anne  of  the  Tyrol,  whom  he  loyed  most 
tenderly,  but  he  had  no  children  —  indeed  the  only 
one  of  all  Maximilian's  sixteen  cliildren  who  eyer 
had  a  child  A\'as  Anne,  whose  only  child  was  Pliilip 
III.  of  Spain,  and  the  Germans  and  Austrians  alike 
would  neyer  haye  borne  to  pa.ss  imder  another 
Spanish  King. 

The  fittest  heir  would  thus  be  Ferdinand,  Duke  of 
Styria,  who  was  son  to  Charles,  a  younger  son  of 
the  Emperor,  Ferdinand  II.     He  had  lost  his  father 
321 


322        Young  Folks'  History  of  Crermany. 

very  early,  and  had  been  bred  up  b}^  liis  Bavarian 
uncle  and  Jesuit  teachers,  so  that  he  was  a  very 
devout  and  conscientious  man,  but  not  clever  — and 


cold,  shy,  and  grave.  When,  in  1596,  he  first  came 
to  take  possession  of  his  duchy,  he  found  all  the 
Stj'^rians  Protestaats,  and  uot  pn^  person  in  Gratz 


Matthias.  323 

would  receive  the  Holy  Communion  with  him  on 
Easter-day.  He  was  so  much  shocked  that  he  made 
a  pilgrimage  to  Rome,  and  vowed  to  restore  his 
duchy  to  the  Church.  He  brought  l)ack  a  band  of 
Capuchin  Friars,  and  between  their  teaching  and 
his  own  management  he  so  entirely  changed  the 
profession  of  the  St3Tians  that,  in  1603,  there  were 
40,000  at  the  Easter  Mass. 

This  did  not  make  the  notion  of  Mm  welcome  to 
the  Protestants.  The  Bohemians  in  especial  had 
been  meaning  to  keep  quiet  as  long  as  Matthias 
lived,  but  on  his  tleath  they  meant  to  choose  either 
the  Elector  of  Saxony  or  the  Elector  Palatine. 
But  in  1617  theu'  diet  was  called  together,  and  they 
were  told  that  they  had  no  right  to  choose  any 
stranger,  but  must  accept  Ferdinand  of  Styria,  to 
whom  Matthias  ^^'ished  to  resign  the  crown  of  Bo- 
hemia. They  were  taken  by  surprise,  and  did  as 
they  were  bidden,  though  they  believed  then*  crown 
to  be  elective,  and  many  of  them  were  old  Huss- 
ites. 

Ferdinand  doubted  whether,  as  a  good  Catholic, 
he  ought  to  swear  to  the  Letter  of  Majesty  granted 
by  Rudolf,  which  made  the  Protestants  equal  with 
the  Catholics,  but  the  Jesuits  told  him  that  though 
it  might  have  been  wrong  to  grant  it,  it  could  not 


324        Young  Folks'  History  of  Grermany. 

be  wrong  to  accept  it  as  part  of  the  law  of  the  land, 
and  as  he  walked  in  state  to  his  coronation,  he  said 
to  one  of  his  friends,  "  I  am  glad  to  have  won  this 
crown  without  any  pangs  of  conscience." 

However,  he  did  not  think  himself  bound  to 
more  than  keeping  the  strictest  letter  of  the  law, 
while  he  believed  it  his  duty  to  restore  Bohemia  to 
the  Church.  He  banished  all  the  Protestants  and 
Hussite  school-masters,  founding  two  Convents  of 
Capuchins  and  three  Jesuit  Colleges,  and  bringing 
in  as  many  of  his  Catholics  to  settle  in  the  country 
as  possible.  It  was  the  plan  that  had  succeeded  in 
Styria,  and  there  was  very  little  resistance  among 
the  people  in  Bohemia.  He  was  also  elected  King 
of  Hungary,  and  there  crowned,  and  a  diet  Avas 
soon  to  be  assembled  to  appoint  him  King  of  the 
Romans. 

His  two  chief  Bohemian  counsellers  were  Slavata 
and  Martinitz,  both  zealouts  Catholics,  whom  he 
left  as  regents  when  he  went  to  Germany  ;  and  on 
the  opposite  side  was  Count  Thurm,  a  strong  Lu- 
theran, who  hated  the  House  of  Hapsburg.  A 
Lutheran  church  was  pulled  down,  and  the  congre- 
gation was  shut  out  of  another  because  they  did 
not  come  under  the  head  of  the  Letter  of  Majest}'. 
On  this,  Thurm  and  his  friends  sent  a  remonstrance 


Matthias,  826 

to  the  Emperor,  but  ^lattliias  justified,  all  tliat  Ids 
cousin  had  done,  and  they  became  afraid  of  abso- 
lute persecution.  Thurm  resolved,  to  destroy  the 
rule  of  the  House  of  Hapsburg  in  Bohemia,  and  to 
begin  by  the  death  of  the  regents. 

On  the  23rd  of  May,  1618,  a  whole  troop  of 
Hussite  and  Lutheran  armed  nobles  tramped  up 
into  the  Council  Chamber  where  Martinitz  and 
Slavata  were  sitting,  and  reproached  them  with 
having  been  the  autliors  of  the  Emperor's  letter. 
A  few  liot  words  passed.  "  Let  us  follow  the  old 
custom,  and  hiui  them  from  the  window,"  some 
one  cried  ;  and  they  were  dragged  to  a  winduw 
seventy  feet  above  the  ditch  of  the  Castle  of  Prague. 
Martinitz  begged  for  a  priest.  "  Commend  thy 
soul  to  God,"  was  the  answer ;  ^  we  A^'ill  have  no 
Jesuit  scoundrels  here ; "  and  he  was  hurled  out, 
uttering  a  prayer  of  which  the  murderers  caught  a 
few  A\  ords,  and  one  cried,  "  Let  us  see  whether  his 
Mary  will  help  him."  Slavata  and  the  secretary 
were  also  huiled  out,  but,  looking  from  the  win- 
dow, the  man's  next  cry  was,  "•  His  Mary  has 
helped  him.'"  For  there  was  a  pile  of  waste  paper 
just  below,  wliich  had  broken  the  fall,  and  all  three 
crawled  awa}'  unhurt. 

This  Defenestration,  as  the  Bohemians  called  it. 


326         You)ty  Fulks    History  of  Grermany, 

was  ill  trntli  the  beginning  of  the  Thirty  Years' 
War  which  ravaged  Germany,  and  threw  back  all 
progress  and  iinprovement  all  tlie  time  it  lasted, 
and  bred  some  of  the  most  savage  and  lawless  sol- 
diers who  ever  drew  sword.  The  Hussites  began 
it  in  real  fear  for  their  religion,  and  also  feeling 
that  the  nation  had  been  cheated  by  the  House  of 
Austria  of  the  power  of  electing  their  king,  and 
they  ho^  cl  for  helj)  from  the  Lutheran  and  Cal- 
^dnist  princes  Avho  had  any  ([uarrel  with  that 
faniil}-.  They  wrote  a  letter  justifying  their  treat- 
ment of  the  two  regents  l)y  the  fate  of  Jezebel,  and 
raised  almost  all  Bohemia  against  Ferdinand. 

The  Emperor  Matthias  had  enough  of  the  spirit 
of  liis  father  to  wish  to  win  them  back  by  gentle 
means,  and  his  chief  adviser.  Cardinal  Klesel,  Avas 
fully  of  the  same  mind.  They  tried  to  hold  back 
Ferdinand,  who  wanted  to  take  speedy  vengeance, 
and  was  supported  by  his  former  guardian,  the 
Archduke  jNIaximilian,  and  the  Jesuits.  When 
they  found  tliat  the  Emperor  would  not  send 
troops  from  the  Spanish  Netherlands  to  reduce 
Bohemia,  these  two  princes  caused  Klesel  to  be 
seized,  stripped  of  his  robes,  and  sent  off  a  prisoner 
to  a  castle  in  the  T3'roL  Matthias  was  ill  in  bed 
with  gout,  and  when  his   brother  went  and  told 


Rudolf  II. 


827 


Hm  what  had  been  done,  iiis  wrath  and  grief  were 
^o  great  that  he  could  not  trust  himself  to  speak, 
but  thrust  the  bed-clothes  into  his  mouth  till  he 
was  almost  choked.  He  was  too  feeble  and  old  to 
hinder  Ferdinand  from  sending  Spanish  and  Flem- 
ish troops  into  Bohemia,  but  Count  Thurm  was  at 


lilpipK 

\  ,\\ 

^\ 

.^IMe 

FRIEDRICH    V 


the  head  of  ten  thousand  insurgents,  and  had  allied 
himself  with  Bethlem  Gabor,  Waiwode  of  Transyl- 
vania, and  with  the  Protestant  Union,  at  the  head 
of  wliich  was  the  Elector  Palatine,  Friedrich,  the 


328         Young  Folks'  History  of  Crermany. 

husband   of  Elizabeth,    daughter   of  James    I.  of 
England. 

The  Catholic  Germans  were  for  the  most  part  of 
the  same  mind  as  the  Emperor,  ready  to  do  any- 
thing to  prevent  war,  and  Matthias  getting  better, 
fixed  a  meeting  at  Egra  to  try  to  come  to  some 
agi-eement,  but  his  wife  died  just  then,  and  he  sank 
into  a  state  of  depression,  comparing  his  cousin's 
usage  of  him  to  his  own  treatment  of  his  brother 
Rudolf,  and  grieving  over  the  miseries  he  saw 
coming  on  the  Empire.  He  died  before  the  con- 
ference could  take  place,  on  the  20th  of  March, 
1619. 


CHAPTER    XXXIV. 

THE    KEVULT    OF    MuflEMIA. 
FERDIXAXD  II., 1G19-1G21. 

A^^FAIRS  were  in  ;i  veiy  unpromising  state  for 
Ferdinand  wlien  Matthias  died.  The  Prot- 
estanl  urinces  of  tlie  Union  were  unwilling  to 
make  Iiim  Emperor,  nor  would  the  Bohemians 
accept  his  promise  to  renew  the  Letter  of  Majesty, 
but  Count  Thurm,  by  favor  of  the  numerous 
Austrian  Protestants,  marched  up  to  the  very  walls 
of  Vienna. 

Ferdinand  sent  his  wife  and  children  away  to 
the  Tyrol,  and  waited  at  Vienna  himself  with  only 
three  hundred  men  whom  he  eould  depend  upon. 
The  Austrians  meant  to  profit  by  his  distress,  and 
insisted  that  he  should  accept  a  charter  which 
united  them  with  the  Bohemians,  and  miule  tliem 
320 


830        Young  Folks'  Histoi-y  of  Ciermany. 

far  too  strong  for  liis  reforms.  He  threw  himself 
on  liis  knees,  and  prayed  for  aid  to  stand  firm 
against  what  liis  conscience  forbade,  and  he  thought 
he  heard  a  voice  in  answer,  "  Fear  not,  I  will  not 
forsake  thee." 

The  Bohemian  cannon  were  firing  on  his  palace, 
and  sixteen  Austrian  nobles  rushed  in  on  him, 
calling  on  him  to  sign  the  charter,  telling  him  that 
the  city  had  revolted,  and  that  if  he  did  not  sign 
he  should  be  shut  itp  in  a  convent,  and  his  childi-en 
should  be  bred  up  Protestants.  One  noble  even 
took  him  rouglily  by  the  button  of  his  coat,  saying, 
"  Sign  it,  Nandel !  "  but  he  never  lost  his  firmness, 
and  at  that  moment  a  trumpet  vas  heard  outside. 
A  troop  of  Flemish  horse,  sent  to  Ferdinand's  aid 
by  the  Archduke  Albert,  had  entered  by  a  gate 
not  guarded  by  Thurm,  and  he  was  rescued. 

The  Bohemians  retreated,  and  proceeded  to  hold 
a  diet  at  Prague,  where  they  elected  the  Elector 
Palatine,  Friedrich,  as  their  king.  He  Avas  at  that 
time  at  the  Diet  of  the  Empire.  The  three  Prot- 
estant Electors  had  much  rather  not  have  chosen 
Ferdinand,  but  as  they  could  agree  on  no  one  else, 
the  three  Archbishops  led  them,  and  there  was  no 
vote  against  liim. 

The  Elector  Palatine  was  advised  against  accept- 


FERDINAND   II. 


Ferdinand  11.  333 

ing  the  Bohemian  croAvn  by  his  father-in-law,  James 
I.,  who  said  he  must  not  reckon  on  English  aid  in 
meddling  with  other  people's  rights,  and  his  own 
mother  was  of  the  same  njind.  He  himself  was 
weak  and  perplexed.  "If  I  refuse,"  he  said,  "I 
shall  be  accused  of  cowardice ;  if  I  accept,  of  arnbi 
tion.  Decide  as  I  may,  all  is  over  for  me  and  my 
country."  But  his  wife,  Elizabeth  Stewart,  thought 
acceptance  a  duty,  and  taunted  him  with  having 
married  a  king's  daughter  without  spirit  to  act  as 
a  king,  and,  half  distracted,  he  yielded,  and  set  off 
from  his  beautiful  home  in  Heidelberg  amid  tlie 
tears  of  all  his  people.  On  the  4th  of  November, 
1619,  he  was  crowned  at  Prague,  where  he  Wiis 
received  with  great  joy.  The  ladies  sent  Elizabelh 
sacks  of  all  sorts  of  cakes,  and  an  ebony  cradle 
inlaid  with  silver  for  her  son  Rupert,  her  third 
cliild,  who  was  born  the  next  month.  But  Fried- 
rich  was  such  a  Calvinist  as  soon  to  offend  the 
Hussites,  who  had  kept  all  the  old  ornaments  on 
their  churches,  and  had  the  Catholic  service  in 
their  own  tongue.  He  also  quarreled  with  Count 
Thm-m,  and  gave  command  of  the  army  to  Prince 
Christian  of  Anhalt. 

"Here  is  a  prince  in  a  fine  lab3Tinth,"  said  the 
Pope,  and  "  He  will  be  only  a  winter  king,"  said 


334        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

the  Jesuits.  And  in  the  spring  the  Flemish  army 
entered  the  Palatinate,  and  horribly  ravaged  the 
beautiful  Rhineland,  so  that  the  Electress  dowager 
and  her  grandchildren  could  hardly  escape.  Max- 
imilian of  Bavaria,  at  the  head  of  an  army  of 
his  own  people  and  of  Austrians,  entered  Bohemia, 
and  Count  Tilly,  the  chief  Austrian  general,  en- 
camped on  the  White  Hill  above  Prague.  It  was 
a  Sunday  morning,  and  the  Gospel  read  for  tlie  day 
was — "Render  unto  Csesar.  the  things  that  are 
Csesar's."  The  soldiers  took  it  as  a  good  omen, 
and  Tilly  gave  battle  as  soon  as  mass  was  over. 

Friedrich  was  at  dinner  with  the  English  envoys 
when  he  heard  that  his  men  were  flying,  and 
Anhalt  fled  into  the  town  bare-headed  to  say  that 
all  ^^as  lost.  The  gates  were  opened,  a  carriage 
brought  to  the  door,  Friedrich  and  Elizabetli  hur- 
ried into  it,  little  Bupert  was  thrown  into  the  bot- 
tom of  it,  and  they  drove  away,  to  find  a  refuge  at 
last  at  the  Hague,  among  the  Dutch.  The  Bohe- 
mians Mere  at  the  mercy  of  the  Catholic  League 
under  ]\Iaximilian  and  Tilly.  Tlie  whole  country 
was  ravaged,  multitudes  of  peasants  were  slain,  the 
nobles  were  beheaded,  and  all  the  old  Hussite 
churches  given  to  the  Catholics,  while  the  ministers 
were   banished.     Priests,  friars,  and  Jesuits  were 


Ferdinand  II.  S36 

sent  to  instruct  the  people,  and  before  the  end  of 
the  reign  the  Hussite  and  Lutheran  doctrine  had 
been  trampled  out  in  Bohemia. 

Friedrich  of  the  Rliine  was  put  to  the  ban  of  the 
Empire,  and  Maximilian  of  Bavaria  Avas  made 
Elector  in  his  stead.  He  might  have  saved  the 
remains  of  his  County  Palatine  if  he  would  have 
taken  the  advice  of  King  James,  who  tried  to  me- 
diate for  him,  and  have  ceased  to  call  himself  King 
of  Bohemia ;  but  he  would  not  do  this,  and  Count 
Peter  Mansfeld  still  held  two  Bohemian  towns  for 
him,  and  having  no  money,  his  soldiers  lived  by 
horrible  pillage  and  rapine.  The  Protestant  Union, 
though  they  had  disapproved  of  the  attack  on  Bo- 
hemia, did  not  choose  to  lose  an  Elector  from  their 
number,  and  undertook  the  defence  of  Friedrich. 
Moreover,  Elizabeth  was  so  beautiful  and  spirited, 
that  the  young  princes  who  saw  her  grew  ardent 
in  her  cause,  and  the  young  Christian  of  Bruns- 
wick called  himself  her  knight,  and  wore  her  glove 
in  his  helmet,  Avith  the  inscription,  "  For  God  and 
for  her."  He  was  a  younger  son  of  the  Duke  of 
Brunswick,  but  a  Lutheran,  and  had  been  provided 
for  with  a  bishopric  for  the  sake  of  the  estates, 
though  he  was  nothing  but  a  soldier.     But  this 


336         Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

was  the  way  the   Lutherau  princes  dealt  with  the 
old  Bishoprics 

With  Tilly  commanding  the  Catholic  Germans 
and  Spinola  the  Flemings  on  the  Emperor's  side, 
and  Anhalt,  Mansfeld,  and  Brunswick  the  Protest- 
ants, the  war  began  to  rage  on  the  Palatinate  on 
the  banks  of  the  Rhine.  Tilly  was  a  Hungarian  of 
peasant  birth,  brave  and  honest,  but  ver}-  fierce  and 
rude.  He  went  to  battle  in  a  green  slashed  coat, 
and  slouched  hat  with  a  red  feather,  and  was  brutal 
with  his  soldiers,  and  unmerciful  to  the  eneni}-. 
This  thirty  years'  war  was  one  of  the  most  horrible 
ever  known.  The  soldiers  were  chiefly  men 
trained  to  fight  as  a  trade  from  their  youth  up, 
coming  from  every  nation,  hiring  themseh''es  out 
for  a  certain  time,  and  serving  only  for  pay  and 
plunder,  with  no  real  feeling  for  their  cause,  and 
no  pity  for  man,  woman,  or  child.  Their  generals 
looked  to  maintain  them  by  pillage,  and  to  wear 
out  the  enemy  by  ruining  his  country.  "  Burning- 
masters  "  were  officers  in  their  armies,  and  horror 
and  misery  came  Avherever  they  went. 


CHAPTER   XXXV. 

GUSTAF   ADOLF    AND   AVALLENSTEIN. 
FERDINAND  II., 1621-1634. 

A  FTER  Tilly  had  defeated  Mansfeld  and 
■^  ^  Christian  of  BrunsAvick,  the  war  seemed 
dying  away,  but  Christian  II.,  King  of  Denmark, 
took  up  the  cause  of  the  German  Protestants,  and 
entered  Saxony,  joined  Mansfeld,  who  had  raised 
another  army.  The  Elector  Johann  George  would 
not  join  them,  but  he  would  not  help  the  Emperor, 
because  Ferdinand  resisted  the  giving  away  of 
Bishoprics  to  young  Lutheran  princes. 

INIaximilian  of  Bavaria  and  Count  Tilly  were 
ready  to  fight  for  the  Empire  and  the  Church,  but 
Ferdinand  wanted  a  general  and  an  army  more 
entirely  his  own,  and  yet  he  had  no  money  to  raise 
troops.      Just    then    there    came    forward    Count 


338        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

Albrecht  von  Waldstein,  or  Wallenstein,  as  he 
came  to  be  called,  a  Bohemian  noble,  who  as  a  lad 
had  become  a  Roman  Catholic,  but  had  more  faith 
in  astrology  than  in  any  religion,  and  could  be  led 
to  anything  that  he  thought  his  star  directed.  He 
had  become  very  rich  by  buying  up  the  estates  for- 
feited by  the  Bohemian  nobles,  and  he  came  to  the 
Emperor  and  offered  to  raise  an  army  of  50,000 
men,  and  make  it  support  itself,  not  by  plunder, 
but  by  forcing  contributions  from  the  states  it  oc- 
cupied. 

Ferdinand  thought  this  not  so  bad  as  plunder,  and 
consented,  creating  WaUenstein  Duke  of  Friedland. 
He  soon  raised  his  army,  chiefly  from  disbanded 
men  of  the  Protestant  army.  He  beat  Mansfeld 
first  on  the  Elbe,  and  the  King  of  Denmark  on  the 
Lutter.  Then  the  duchy  of  Holstein,  wliich  be- 
longed to  Denmark,  but  was  part  of  the  German 
Empire,  was  taken  from  the  King,  and  Wallenstein 
was  rewarded  by  being  made  Duke  of  Mecklenburg 
and  Generalissimo  of  the  Empire  by  sea  and  land. 
Afterwards,  he  tried  to  enter  Stralsund  on  the  Bal- 
tic, a  free  city,  and  one  of  the  Hause  towns,  and 
when  he  found  the  gates  closed,  he  besieged  it,  de- 
claring, "■  I  will  have  the  city,  though  it  were  bound 
with  chains  of  adamant  to  heaven."     The  magis- 


Ferdinand    II.  341 

trates  appealed  to  the  Emperor,  who  commanded 
him  to  give  up  the  siege,  but  he  paid  no  attention, 
and  went  on  with  the  attack.  However,  the  Kings 
of  Sweden  and  Denmark  sent  mid  to  the  Stralsun- 
ders,  and  he  had  to  retire,  after  ha^'ing  lost  many 
men. 

He  had  grown  so  proud  and  powerful  that  his 
state  and  splendor  i>urpassed  those  of  the  princes, 
and  the  Catholic  League,  with  the  Elector  of  Ba- 
varia at  its  head,  pressed  Ferdinand  to  dismiss  him 
for  his  disobedience  and  presumption  in  attacking 
a  free  city,  declaring  that  unless  this  was  done, 
they  would  not  choose  the  Emperor's  son  King  of 
the  Romans. 

The  French  minister  Richelieu,  Avho  wanted  to 
ruin  Ferdinand,  was  playing  a  double  game,  per- 
suading the  Emperor  to  give  up  his  general,  and  at 
the  same  time  advising  the  princes  against  electing 
young  Ferdinand,  while  he  tried  to  stir  up  fresh 
enemies  for  the  House  of  Austria.  The  Duke  of 
Friedland  then  retired  to  his  estates,  where  he 
lived  more  splendidly  than  most  kings  of  his  time. 
He  was  waited  on  by  nobles,  and  had  sixty  high- 
born pages  and  fifty  life-guards  waiting  in  his  own 
chamber ;  his  table  was  never  laid  for  less  than  a 
hundred ;   and  when  he  traveled  it  was  with  sixty 


342         Young  Folks'  History  of  Grermany. 

carriages  and  one  hundred  wagons.  He  hated 
noise  so  much,  that  when  he  was  at  Prague  he  had 
chains  put  across  the  streets  near  his  palace  that 


CUSTAF    ADOLF. 


nothing  might  disturb  him,  and  his  study,  where  he 
spent  much  time  in  observing  the  stars,  and  draw- 
ing omens  from  them,  was  a  wonderful  place.     His 


Ferdinand  11.  343 

manner  was  blunt,  short,  and  proud,  l)ut  there  was 
something  about  him  that,  together  with  his  mag- 
nificent gifts,  bound  men's  hearts  to  liim. 

Ferdinand,  having  thus  gained  the  victory,  insis- 
ted that  the  Church  property  belonging  to  bishop- 
rics and  abbeys  should  be  given  up.  Again  the 
Protestants  felt  tliemselves  aggrieved,  and  their 
defence  was  taken  up  by  Gustaf  Adolf,  King  of 
Sweden,  the  noblest  man  and  best  soldier  of  the 
age,  and  one  of  its  truest  Christians. 

He  kept  his  army  in  perfect  order,  and  would 
allow  no  plunder  or  violence,  taking  care  that  his 
men  should  be  well  fed,  clothed,  and  lodged, 
and  giving  them  chaplains,  who  read  prayers  and 
taught  them.  He  came  in  the  spirit  of  one  who 
hoped  to  work  a  deliverance  for  his  religion,  and  as 
he  entered  Pomerania  in  1630,  all  were  amazed  at 
his  orderly  army,  paying  its  way  and  doing  no  harm. 
The  Catholics  called  him  the  Snow-king,  who 
would  melt  as  he  came  southwards,  and  Tilly 
marched  to  oppose  him. 

The  free  town  of  Magdeburg  was  Protestant. 
Tilly  besieged  it,  and  took  it  by  assault  before 
Gustaf  could  come  to  save  it.  Then  there  was  the 
most  liorrible  sack  ever  known,  wliile  the  savage 
soldiers  murdered,  robbed,  drank,  rioted,  and  burnt. 


344         Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

more  like  fiends  than  liuman  beings,  and  Tilly 
called  this  their  reward.  The  fire  drove  them  out 
at  last,  when  out  of  40.000  inhabitants  only  800 
were  left. 

These  atrocities  horrified  all  Germany.  Many 
princes  who  had  doubted  before  now  joined  Gustaf, 
and  he  fought  a  great  battle  at  Leipsic  with  Tilly, 
and  routed  him  completely.  It  was  the  old  gen- 
eral's first  defeat  out  of  thirty  battles,  and  it 
opened  Gustaf's  way  into  south  Germany.  March- 
ing towards  Bavaria,  he  met  Tilly  again,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Lech,  and  was  again  victorious,  Tilly 
being  killed  by  a  shot  in  the  leg.  Gustaf  would 
have  restored  P^iedrich  to  Heidelberg  on  condition 
that  he  would  give  Lutherans  equal  rights  Avith 
Calvinists,  but  this  he  would  not  do,  and  three 
months  later  he  died  of  a  fever. 

All  the  free  toAvns  received  Gustaf  joj-fullv,  and 
he  marched  into  Bavaria,  while  Maximilian  fled  to 
Regensburg.  At  Munich,  the  burghers  received 
the  conqueror  on  their  knees,  but  he  bade  them 
rise,  saying,  "  Kneel  to  God,  not  man."  He  al- 
lowed no  plunder,  and  left  the  Elector's  palace  and 
stores  of  pictures  untouched.  All  he  wanted  was 
the  cannon,  and  these   were  found  buried  under- 


DEATH    OF    WAI  I  FNSTFl*: 


Ferdinand  II.  347 

ground,  and  the  largest  of  all  stuffed  to  the  muzzle 
with  gold  pieces. 

Meantime  the  Elector  of  Saxony  was  overrun- 
ning Boliomia,  but  Wallenstein  had  been  roused  to 
take  the  connnand  again,  and  he  hunted  the  Elec- 
tor back  to  Saxony.  There  Gustaf  came  to  his 
help,  and  at  Lutzen,  in  November,  1632,  these  two 
great  generals  fought  a  great  battle.  The  Swede 
was  the  victor,  but  was  killed  in  tlie  midst  of  the 
fight,  it  is  much  feared  by  the  treachery  of  a  Ger- 
man Duke.  A  monument,  called  the  Stone  of  the 
Swede,  marks  where  he  fell  —  the  best  and  great- 
est man  of  his  time.  Young  Duke  Bernard  of 
Saxe  Weinuir,  a  brave  and  good  young  man, 
took  the  command,  but  he  could  not  keep  Gustaf 's 
discipline,  and  his  army  was  soon  as  great  a  scourge 
as  Mansfeld's  had  been. 

Wallenstein  had  gone  into  Bohemia,  and  there 
would  obey  no  orders  either  from  the  Emperor  or 
the  Elector  of  Bavaria.  When  he  was  reproved, 
he  made  all  his  chief  officers  sign  a  bond  to  hold 
fast  by  him  whatever  happened.  Tliis  was  flat 
treason,  and  some,  though  signing  it,  sent  informa- 
tion to  the  Emperor,  and  then  left  him.  He  now 
began  to  deal  with  the  other  side,  and  offered  to 
give  the  city  of  Egra  up  to  the  Protestants.     Bern- 


348        Young  Folks*  History  of  Crermany. 

liard  wouUl  have  nothing  to  do  with  snch  a  ti'aitor, 
but  the  other  allies  listened,  and  Egra  was  just 
about  to  be  delivered  up  by  "Wallenstien,  when  six 
Scottish  and  Irish  officers  of  his  guards  resolved  to 
hinder  the  deed  by  his  death.  Just  as  he  had  gone 
to  bed,  the}'  broke  into  his  rooms,  as  he  met  them 
at  the  door  he  was  slain  at  once  by  six  halberts  in 
his  breast,  on  the  25th  of  February,  1634. 


CHAPTER    XXXVI. 

FERDINAND  II ,   . .  16:34-1637. 

FERDINAND  III lOOT. 

OX  the  death  of  Wallenstein,  the  command  of 
tlie  Catholic  army  was  given  to  the  Em- 
peror's son  Ferdinand,  wlio  had  been  chosen  King 
of  Hungary  and  Bohemia,  and  to  liis  aid  came  the 
Governor  of  the  Low  Countries,  a  son  of  the  King 
of  Spain,  commonly  called  the  Cardinal  Infant 
who,  church  dignitary  though  he  was,  was  a  Lravr 
captain.  Together,  they  gave  the  Protestants  > 
terrible  defeat  at  Nordlingen,  and  the  party  wa^ 
beginning  to  fall  to  pieces.  The  Germans  hated 
the  Swedes,  the  Swedes  were  jealous  of  Bernhai'd 
of  Saxe  Weimar,  and  all  began  to  consider  of  peace, 
for  the  war  was  growing  more  dreadful  than  ever. 
The  soldiers  on  both  sides  were  worse  than  savages, 
and  found  their  pleasure  in  torture  for  its  own  sake, 

sticking  needles  into  the  miserable  people  who  fell 
:J49 


350         Younfj  Folks''  History  of  Germany. 


into  their  hands,  saA^dng  their  flesh  to  the  bone, 
scalding  them  with  hot  water,  or  hunting  them 
with  dogs.  Whole  villages  in  Brandenburg  and 
Saxony  lay  utterly  waste,  with  no  living  creature 
in   them    but    the    famished    dogs   that   prowled 


BERNHARD  OP   SAXB  WEIMAR 


round  the  desolate  hearths,  and  along  the  road 
lay  dead  bodies  Avith  a  little  grass  in  their  mouths. 
The  English  Ambassador  on  his  way  to  Prague 
saw  many  such  sights,  and  fed  many  starving 
wretuhps  on  his  way.     One  poor  little  village  which 


Ferdinand  II.  351 

he  passed  through  had  been  piUaged  twenty-eight 
times  in  two  years ! 

He  was  going  to  a  conference  at  Prague,  where 
there  was  an  attempt  to  make  peace,  but  every  one 
was  displeased  with  the  terms,  and  the  French,  who 
had  been  hoping  all  along  to  get  something  for 
themselves  out  of  the  misfortunes  of  Germany,  and 
had  set  their  hearts  on  the  province  of  Elsass,  de- 
clared war  against  the  Empire  just  before  the  peace 
was  signed  between  Ferdinand  and  the  princes  of 
the  Empire.  Bernhard  of  Saxe  Weimar  was  invi- 
ted to  Paris,  and  much  admired  and  caressed.  He 
was  made  a  general  both  in  the  French  and  in  the 
Swedish  armies,  and  now  the  war  was  not  between 
Catholic  and  Protestant  Germans,  but  between 
Germans  on  the  one  hand,  and  Swedes  and  French 
on  the  other ;  for  the  Swedes  were  fighting  for 
the  duchy  of  Pomerania,  which  had  been  promised 
to  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg. 

In  the  midst  died  Ferdinand  II.,  on  the  loth  ot 
February,  1637.  He  was  a  good  and  devout  man, 
but  narrow-minded,  and  so  much  devoted  to  the 
Jesuits  and  Capuchins  that  his  confessor  said  of 
him,  that  if  an  angel  and  a  monk  gave  him  contrary 
advice,  he  believed  he  w^ould  take  the  monk's.  He 
was  most  kind  and  charitable,  and  would  wait  on 


352         Young  Folks'  History  of  G-ermany. 

"oeggars  and  lepers  with  liis  own  hands,  and  he  was 
much  beloved  by  his  Catholic  subjects. 

His  son,  Ferdinand  III.,  was  very  like  him.  His 
great  love  was  for  keeping  accounts,  and  he  did 
save  a  great  deal  of  money,  but  he  wrote  such  a 
bad  hand  that  when  he  sent  orders  to  his  generals 
they  could  always  avoid  obeying  them,  by  declaring 
they  could  not  read  them.  His  reign  began  in  the 
midst  of  the  weary  old  war,  the  Swedes  fighting  for 
Pomerania,  and  the  French  for  Elsass.  Bernhard 
of  Saxe  Weimer  took  Brisach,  fancying  Elsass 
would  be  given  to  him,  and  he  was  angered  and 
disappointed  when  he  found  this  was  the  last 
thing  the  French  thought  of.  He  set  off  to  make 
his  way  to  the  Swedes,  who  were  overrunning 
Brandenburg,  but  on  the  way  he  caught  a  fever, 
and  died  in  1639,  when  only  thirty-six  years  old, 
worn  out  by  the  miserable  war,  and  grief  at  the 
atrocities  he  could  not  prevent.  In  the  midst  of 
his  illness  he  heard  that  the  enemy  were  attacking 
the  camp,  and  rising  from  his  sick-bed,  he  mounted 
his  horse  and  drove  them  back. 

All  the  Germans,  Catholic  and  Protestant,  were 
united  now,  and  they  had  the  Spaniards  to  help 
them,  but  the  French  and  Swedes  were  both  under 
able  generals.     The  Swedish  Count  Banicr  won  so 


Ferdinand  III.  853 

many  victories  that  six  hundred  standards  of  his 
taking  are  still  in  the  Cathedral  at  Stockholm. 
Hungary  was  attacked  by  George  Bagotsky  ol 
Transylvania,  and  Germany  by  the  French,  who 
won  two  terrible  battles  at  Friburg  and  Nordliu- 
gen,  and  had  orders  to  march  into  Bavaria  and  lay 
the  country  waste. 

This  threat  was  to  force  the  Elector  Maximiliar 
to  make  a  separate  peace  with  France.  He  wah 
the  only  one  left  of  all  the  princes  who  had  been 
living  at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  and  had  upheld 
the  cause  of  the  Emperor  all  through,  but  he  coidd 
not  give  up  his  country  to  the  savage  soldiers,  and 
he  signed  a  truce.  The  Emperor,  losing  his  help, 
was  in  greater  straits  than  ever,  the  Swedes  over- 
ran Bohemia,  and  one  night  broke  into  the  Em- 
peror's camp,  and  killed  the  sentries  before  his  tent. 
"When  the  truce  was  over,  Maximilian  joined  Fer- 
dinand again.  The  last  great  battle  of  the  war 
was  fought  at  Zusmarschenen,  in  1648,  with  the 
Swedes,  who  again  gained  a  great  victory.  Bava- 
ria was  overrun  and  laid  waste,  and  in  Bohemia, 
half  Prague  was  taken  by  them. 

At  Prague  the  war  had  begun  in  1618,  at  Prague 
it  ended  in  1648.  Germany  was  worn  out ;  it  had 
only    half    the   inhabitants   it    had  at  the  begin- 


354        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany, 

ning  of  the  war.  Many  towns  were  in  ruins,  many 
villages  deserts,  trade  was  destroyed,  misery  every- 
where. The  old  Hanse  League  had  fallen  to  pieces 
because  the  once  wealthy  cities  could  not  pay  their 
expenses.  Peace  must  be  made ;  so  a  congress 
was  held  at  Miinster  in  Westphalia,  and  attended 
by  deputies  from  all  parts  of  Europe.  The  two 
foreign  enemies  were  bought  off — France  with 
Elsass,  and  Sweden  with  half  Pomerania.  The 
other  half  went  to  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg, 
also  the  bishopric  of  Magdeburg  ;  Bavaria  had  the 
lower  Palatinate,  but  the  upper  Palatinate  was  re- 
stored to  Karl  Ludwig,  the  son  of  the  Winter  King, 
and  brother  of  Rupert,  who  had  been  fighting  for 
his  uncle,  Charles  I.,  in  England.  At  the  same 
time  Holland,  the  Netherlands,  and  Smtzerland 
were  declared  free,  and  independent  of  the  Empire, 
As  to  religious  matters,  all  benefices  that  had 
been  in  Catholic  or  Protestant  hands  in  1624  were 
so  to  remain,  the  Imperial  Council  was  to  be  of 
equal  numbers  of  Catholics  and  Protestants,  each 
prince  might  enforce  what  religion  he  pleased  on 
his  subjects,  and  Calvinism  was  as  much  recognized 
as  Lutheranism.  Nobody  liked  the  terms  of  this 
peace,  but  everybody  was  so  worn  out  that  it  was 
agreed  to.  Thenceforth,  then,  the  great  outlines  were 


Ferdinand  III.  357 

settled.  Austria,  Hungary,  Tyrol,  and  Bohemia, 
being  the  hereditary  lands  of  the  Emperor,  were 
Catholic,  also  Bavaria;  while  Brandenburg,  Sax- 
ony, Brunswick,  and  most  of  the  northern  states 
and  free  cities  were  Protestant,  and  though  the 
Empire  still  existed,  all  the  princes  were  much 
more  independent  of  it.  Maximilian  of  Bavaria 
died  in  1G51,  three  years  after  the  peace  was 
signed,  much  respected  for  the  faithful,  honest  part 
he  had  acted.  The  Emperor  lived  till  lGo7.  He 
was  not  an  able  man,  but  he  had  never  throughout 
his  reign  done  a  single  act  that  he  knew  to  be  un- 
just. When  he  was  sitting  in  his  room,  weak  and 
ill,  the  nurses  rushed  in  with  his  youngest  child's 
cradle,  because  the  nursery  was  on  fire,  and  in  their 
fright  knocked  the  cradle  against  the  wall,  so  that 
it  was  broken,  and  the  child  fell  out.  The  shock 
so  startled  the  father  that  he  only  lived  an  hour 
after,  and  the  baby  died  of  the  faJl  a  few  months 
later. 


CHAPTER   XXXVII. 

THE      SIEGE      OF      VIENNA. 
LEOPOLD  L, 1657-1687. 

THE  eldest  son  of  Ferdinand  III.  died  before 
liis  father,  and  tlie  second,  Leopold,  was  not 
eighteen,  and  had  not  yet  been  chosen  King  of  the 
Romans.  This  gave  Louis  XIV.  of  France  an  op- 
portunity of  trying  to  get  himself  elected  to  the 
Empire,  and  he  gained  over  the  three  Electoral 
Archbishops  and  the  Elector  Palatine,  who  had  be- 
come a  Roman  Catholic,  but  Friedrich  Wilhelm  of 
Brandenburg,  who  is  called  the  Great  Elector,  kept 
the  others  firm  against  France,  and  Leopold  was 
chosen.  He  had  been  educated  for  the  priesthood, 
and  was  a  very  devout  and  good  man,  most  upright 
and  careful,  but  he  was  far  from  clever  or  strong, 
and  could  not  do  great  things,  though  he  did  little 

358 


Leopold  I. 


859 


things,  very  well.  He  was  so  good  a  player  on  the 
violin  that  his  music  master  exclaimed — "What  a 
pity  your  majesty  is  not  a  fiddler ! " 

^e  was  unfortunate,  for  Louis  XIV.  was  on  the 


LEOl'ULK    I. 


watch  to  gain  all  he  could  from  Germany  in  its 
worn-out  state,  and  was   his   enemy  all   his  life, 


360         Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

leaguing  with  the  Rhineland  princes  against  him, 
so  that  the  war  began  again. 

The  Great  Elector  saw  through  Louis's  plans» 
and  did  Ms  best  to  keep  the  Germans  together,  but 
the  Swedes  invaded  his  part  of  Pomerania,  and  he 
had  to  fight  with  them,  when  he  not  only  drove 
them  back,  but  seized  most  of  what  they  had  been 
granted  at  the  peace  of  Miinster. 

The  Austrians  were  defeated  on  the  Rhine  and 
a  peace  was  made  at  Nimeguen  in  1678  for  all 
Eui'ope,  when  Brandenburg  was  forced  to  give  up 
what  he  had  gained  in  Pomerania. 

In  spite  of  the  peace,  Louis  declared  that  the 
great  free  city  of  Strasburg  belonged  to  Elsass,  and 
in  1681,  while  most  of  the  burghers  were  away  at 
the  great  fair  of  Frankfort,  he  seized  the  place,  and 
kept  it,  bribing  the  chief  inhabitants  to  submit,  and 
changing  it  as  much  as  possible  to  be  a  French 
Roman  Catholic  instead  of  a  German  Protestant 
city. 

The  Germans  were  furious,  and  would  have 
made  a  league  to  recover  it,  but  that  the  Elector  of 
Brandenburg  was  so  angry  at  having  been  deprived 
of  his  conquest  in  Pomerania  that  he  would  not 
join  the  Emperor  in  anytliing.  Moreover,  Louis 
stiiTcd  up  the  Hungarians  against  liim,  and  indeed 


Leopold  L  361 

Leopold  had  been  very  harsh  to  the  Protestants 
there,  and  liad  sent  two  hundred  and  fifty  of  tlieir 
pastors  to  row  as  galley  slaves  at  Naples,  where  the 
great  Dutch  Admiral  Denji^er  obtained  their  free- 
dom. The  Hungarians  revolted,  and  after  a  few 
years  called  in  to  their  aid  Mahommed  IV.,  the  Sul-' 
tan  who  sent  his  Grand  Vizier,  Kara  Mustafa,  at 
the  head  of  200,000  men,  to  invade  Austria  itself. 
Leopold  and  his  family  were  obliged  to  take  flight, 
and  left  Vienna  to  be  defended  by  the  governor, 
Count  Starenburg,  and  its  bi*hop,  Kolonitsch,  who 
had  been  a  Knight  of  St.  John,  with  a  small,  brave 
garrison.  Outside  was  the  Austrian  army,  under 
the  Duke  of  Lorraine,  with  such  an  army  as  he 
could  collect,  and  in  it  the  young  Prince  Eugene,  a 
cousin  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy.  lie  had  been  bred 
up  at  the  French  Coiu"t,  but  he  had  grown  weary 
of  its  stiffness,  and  ran  away  with  some  other 
young  men  to  fight  against  the  Turks.  Their  let- 
ters were  captured  and  opened,  and  were  found  to 
make  game  of  the  King.  He  never  forgave  what 
was  said  of  him,  and  Eugene  continued  to  serve 
the  Emperor.  But  the  Duke  of  Lorraine  was  not 
strong  enough  to  fight  the  Turks,  and  Vienna  was 
almost  starved,  so  that  the  people  had  to  eat  dogs, 
''ats,  and  cats  (which  they  called  roofpares).     The 


3C2        Yeung  Fonts'  History  of  Germany. 

only  hope  was  in  Poland,  which  for  once  had  a 
really  great  man  for  its  King,  named  John  Sobieski. 
He  was  collecting  his  troops  to  come  to  the  aid  of 
the  Austrians,  and  much  were  they  longed  for. 
The  Turks  outside  had  grown  so  weary  of  the  siege 
that  they  were  heard  crying,  "  O  ye  infidels,  if  ye 
will  not  come  yourselves,  let  us  at  least  see  your 
crests  over  the  hills,  for  then  the  siege  will  be  over, 
and  we  shall  be  free." 

To  lessen  their  discontent,  Kara  Mustafa  ordered 
an  assault  to  be  made*  It  was  beaten  off,  but  such 
was  the  loss  of  men,  and  such  damage  was  done  to 
the  walls,  that  the  Viennese  thought  their  doom 
was  come.  On  what  they  feared  would  be  their 
last  night,  Starenburg  sent  up  a  volley  of  rockets 
from  the  tower  of  the  Cathedral.  Behold,  it  was 
answered  by  five  more  from  Kohlenberg  hill! 
Then  he  knew  that  help  was  at  hand,  and  sent  a 
messenger  to  swim  across  the  Danube  by  night 
with  a  letter  to  the  Duke  of  Lorraine  with  these 
few  words — "No  time  to  be  lost.  No  time  indeed 
to  be  lost." 

Lorraine  and  Sobieski  joined  their  forces,  and 
burst  down  from  the  hiUs  upon  the  enemy.  When 
the  Turks  saw  that  all  hope   was  vain,  they  mur- 


Leopold  L  363 

dered  every  captive  in  their  hands  and  all  their  own 
women  who  could  not  be  carried  away,  but  they 
left  the  babies,  and  five  hundred  of  these  poor  little 
things  were  brought  to  the  good  Bishop,  who  had 
them  baptized  and  brought  np  at  his  own  expense. 
An  immense  quantity  of  stores  were  taken,  among 
them  30  much  coffee  that  it  then  became  a  common 
drink,  and  the  first  coffee-house  in  Europe  was 
opened  by  the  same  man  who  had  swum  the 
Danube. 

Sobieski  rode  into  Vienna  -with  the  people 
thronging  round  to  kiss  his  home  and  his  sword, 
and  calling  him  father  and  deliverer.  Leopold  was 
too  proud  to  be  grateful,  and  was  half  jealous,  half 
afraid.  He  came  into  Vienna  barefoot,  with  a 
taper  in  his  hand,  and  went  straight  to  the  Cathe- 
dral, but  he  would  not  see  Sobieski  till  he  had 
made  up  his  mind  what  ceremonies  to  observe. 
"How  should  an  Emperor  meet  a  King  of 
Poland?"  he  asked.  "  With  open  arms,"  said  the 
Duke  of  Lorraine. 

They  did  meet  on  horseback  outside  the  city, 
and  Leopold  said  a  few  cold  words  in  Latin,  but 
was  so  uncivil  that  the  Polish  army  was  very 
angry,  and  the  Duke  of  Lorraine  and  his  Germans 


364        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

were  shocked  —  nor  would  Leopold  allow  the 
Polish  sick  to  be  brought  into  the  city,  nor  those 
who  died  to  be  buried  in  the  churchyards.  How- 
ever, Sobieski  still  fought  on,  hunted  the  Turks 
back  to  the  Danube,  and  together  with  the  Duke 
of  Lorraine  gained  a  great  victory  at  Gran,  which 
delivered  that  city  from  the  Turks  after  they  had 
held  it  eighty  years. 

The  Emperor  began  to  punish  the  Hungarians, 
whose  revolt  had  caused  this  invasion.  He  set  up 
a  tribunal  at  Eperies,  where  a  fierce  Italian  named 
Caraffa  acted  as  judge,  and  sent  out  parties  of  horse 
to  bring  in  all  who  were  supposed  not  to  wish  well 
to  the  House  of  Austria.  They  were*  accused  of 
conspiracy,  tortured,  and  put  to  death  so  ruthlessly 
that  the  court  was  known  as  the  Shambles  of 
Eperies.  After  this,  he  took  away  from  the  Hun- 
garians  the  right  of  electing  their  king,  declaring 
the  crown  to  be  hereditary  in  his  own  family,  and 
sending  his  eldest  son,  Joseph,  at  ten  years  old,  to 
be  crowned  at  Presburg  with  the  crown  of  St. 
Stephen.  He  promised  the  nobles  all  their  former 
rights,  and  engaged  to  abolish  the  tribunal  of  Epe- 
ries if  they  would  agree  to  own  that  their  kingdom 
was  hereditary  both  in  the  male  and  female  line, 


Leopold  I. 


865 


but  they  held  out  for  the  right  of  choosing  a  new 
family  if  the  male  line  of  Hapsburgs  should  end, 
and  Leopold  gave  way,  not  seeing  much  chance  as 
yet  of  sons  being  wanting  to  his  house.  This  was 
in  1687. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

WAR     OF     THE     SUCCESSION. 
LEOPOLD  I., 1635-1705. 

IN  1605  had  clied  Karl,  the  Elector  Palatine, 
grandson  to  the  Winter  King.  He  left  no 
children,  and  his  nearest  male  relations,  the  Duke 
of  Neuburg,  father  to  the  Empress,  inherited  the 
county  on  the  Rhine,  but  Elizabeth,  the  sister  of 
the  late  Pfalzgraf,  was  married  to  the  Duke  of  Or- 
leans, brother  to  Louis  XIV.,  and  the  French 
king  hoped  through  her  to  gain  more  of  the  border 
of  the  river.  So  he  claimed  as  her  right  various 
Rhin  eland  fortresses,  which  would  have  let  the 
French  quite  into  the  heart  of  the  country.  When 
the  claim  was  refused,  Marshal  Duras  was  sent  to 
invade  the  country,  with  orders  to  destroy  what  he 

could  not  keep.     It  was  the  depth  of  winter,  and 

366 


Leopold  1.  86T 

three  days'  notice  was  given  to  each  unhappy  village 
that  the  people  might  remove,  and  then  every 
house  was  pillaged  and  burnt,  every  garden  rooted 
up,  and  even  the  vineyards  and  corn-fields  laid 
waste.  Wurms  and  Mannheim  were  burnt,  the 
tombs  of  the  German  emperors  at  Spiers  were 
broken  open,  and  the  noble  old  castle  of  Heidel- 
berg was  blown  up  with  gunpowder. 

It  was  worse  than  even  Louis  XIV.  had  intend- 
ed, and  he  stopped  the  ruin  that  was  intended  for 
Trier,  but  the  Markgraf  of  Baden  declared  that  he 
had  come  from  Hungary  only  to  see  that  Christians 
could  be  more  savage  than  Turks. 

In  the  midst  of  this  horrible  war  died  the  Great 
Elector  Friedrich  Wilhelm  of  Brandenburg,  after 
having  ruled  for  forty-eight  years,  and  having  re- 
stored Brandenburg  and  Prussia  to  prosperity  after 
the  dreadful  state  in  which  the  Thirty  Years'  War 
had  left  them. 

The  Elector  of  Saxony,  August,  had,  on  So- 
bieski's  death,  become  a  Roman  Catholic,  because 
he  wanted  to  be  King  of  Poland.  He  was  a  man 
of  such  wonderful  strength  that  he  could  twist  a 
horseshoe  into  any  shape  he  pleased  with  his 
fingers,  but  he  was  a  bad  and  dissipated  man, 
whose  profusion  was  quite  a  proverb,  and  whose 


368        Young  Folks'  History  of  Crermany. 

vice  was  frightful.  One  gypsying  party  alone  cost 
3,000,000  dollars ! 

The  Protestants  complained  so  much  that  liis  de- 
fection upset  the  balance  of  the  diet  that  they  Avere 
allowed  another  Elector,  Ernst  August,  Dute  of 
Brunswick-Luneburg,  who  had  become  Elector  of 
Hanover. 

The  war  in  the  Palatinate  was,  however,  not  so 
much  fought  out  in  Germany  as  by  the  Emperor's 
allies,  the  other  powers  of  Europe,  with  William 
III.  of  England  as  their  leading  spirit,  and  in  1697 
peace  was  made  at  Ryswick,  leaving  Strasburg  to 
France,  but  taking  back  to  Germany  Briesach, 
Friburg,  and  Philipsburg,  which  had  been  seized 
as  belonging  to  Elsass. 

But  the  peace  of  Ryswick  was  only  a  resting- 
time  before  another  war  which  every  one  saw 
coming,  since  Carlos  II.,  King  of  Spain,  was  a 
sickly  man,  without  children,  Avhose  death  was  con- 
stantly expected  —  and  what  was  to  become  of  his 
kingdom  ?  He  had  no  brother,  but  he  had  two 
sisters :  the  eldest  had  married  Louis  XVI.,  who 
had  left  a  son ;  the  other,  Margarita,  had  been  the 
first  wife  of  Leopold,  and  had  left  one  daughter, 
Antonio,  who  had  married  the  Elector  of  Bavaria, 
and  had  a  son  named  Ferdinand, 


FRIEDRICU  I..  KING  OF  FRUSSIA  ICORONATIONV 


Leopold  L  871 

The  mothers  of  Leopold  and  Louis  had  also  been 
Spanish  princesses.  France  was  so  much  too 
powerful  already  that  the  powers  of  Europe  could 
not  let  the  Dauphin  inherit  Spain  —  besides,  his 
mother  had  renounced  her  rights  to  Spain  on  be- 
coming Queen  of  France.  So  the  right  heir  seemed 
to  be  young  Ferdinand  of  Bavaria,  and  Carlos 
made  his  will  in  his  faVor,  but  tliis  had  scarcely 
been  done  before  the  boy  died,  and  the  French  and 
Austrians  accused  one  anotlier  of  poisoning  him. 
Leopold's  second  Avife,  Eleonore  of  Neuburg,  one 
of  the  best  and  most  devout  women  in  Europe,  had 
given  him  two  sons,  Joseph  and  Karl,  and  he  de^ 
clared  that  all  rights  of  the  French  queen  having 
been  renounced,  he  was  the  next  heir  through  his 
mother,  and  that  he  would  make  over  his  claim  to 
his  second  son,  Karl ;  and  to  make  sure  of  the  sup- 
port of  the  German  powers,  he  offered  to  make  the 
Electors  of  Brandenburg  and  Saxony  kings.  Fried- 
rich  of  Brandenburg,  who  was  a  weak  man,  fond  of 
show  and  finery,  was  delighted.  He  chose  to  be 
called  King  of  Prussia,  and  went  to  gi-eat  expense 
for  his  coronation,  but  his  wife  was  a  very  clever 
woman,  who  used  to  study  with  the  philosopher 
Leibnitz,  and  was  heaitily  weary  of  all  his  pomp 
and  show.     Louis  XIV.  promised  to  be  contented 


372        Young  Folka''  History  of  Germany, 

with  the  duchy  of  Lorraine  and  kingdom  of  Naples 
and  Sicily,  and  leave  Karl  Spain  and  the  Nether- 
lands, and  the  other  nations  swore  to  see  this  car- 
ried out.  But  poor  Carlos  II.  thought  it  liis  duty 
to  leave  his  kingdom  to  his  nearest  relation,  and 
when  he  died,  in  1700,  he  was  found  to  have  left 
all  by  will  to  Pliilip,  Duke  of  Anjou,  the  second 
grandson  of  Louis  XIV.,  and  he  was  at  once  sent 
off  to  take  possession,  while  the  Elector  of  Bavaria 
and  liis  brother,  the  Archbishop  of  Koln,  sided  with 
him.  However,  the  Emperor  began  the  war  in 
Italy,  wliither  he  sent  Prince  Eugene,  who  was  by 
far  his  best  general.  He  was  a  little  lean  man  — 
a  strange  figure  in  his  blue  coat,  brass  buttons,  ahd 
enormous  cocked  hat,  but  he  was  greatly  respected 
for  his  uprightness,  bravery,  and  skill,  and  he 
brought  over  his  cousin,  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  to 
take  the  Austrian  instead  of  the  French  side. 

The  Archduke  Karl  was  sent  to  try  liis  fortune 
in  Spain,  where  he  prospered  as  long  as  the  En- 
glish Lord  Peterborougli  fought  for  him,  but  his 
German  advisers  were  so  dull  and  wrong-headed, 
and  he  himself  so  proud  and  stupid,  that  Peter- 
borough thl'ew  up  his  command,  and  then  the 
French  gained  ground,  and  Karl  was  forced  to  shut 
himself  up  in  Barcelona. 


Leopold  I.  Z75 

In  the  meantime,  the  Elector  Maximilian  of  Ba- 
varia had  brought  a  whole  French  army  into  his 
duchy  to  invade  the  Austrian  Tyrol,  which  Bavaria 
always  coveted.  He  gained  some  successes  at  first, 
but  the  Tyrolese,  always  the  most  true  and  loyal  of 
peasants,  drove  him  out  with  great  loss.  Eugene 
had  been  called  back  from  Italy,  and  an  English 
army,  under  the  great  Duke  of  Marlborough, 
marched  up  from  Holland.  These  two  great  men 
then  began  a  warm  friendship,  wliich  never  slack- 
ened, and  together  they  met  the  huge  French  army 
which  had  come  to  aid  Bavaria,  and  utterly  routed 
it  —  first  at  Donauwerth,  and  then  at  Hochstadt, 
or,  as  the  English  call  it,  Blenheim,  making  the 
French  general,  Tallard,  a  prisoner  on  the  13th  of 
August,  1701. 

It  was  the  first  victory  gained  over  the  French 
since  the  battle  of  St.  Quentin,  and  it  drove  them 
quite  out  of  Bavaria,  which  was  held  by  the  Aus- 
trian troops,  wliile  the  Elector  fled  into  the  Nether- 
lands. 

Leopold  had  only  just  lived  to  see  the  tide  tmn, 
and  his  great  enemy,  Louis,  begin  to  lose.  He  was 
already  out  of  health,  and  died  on  the  5th  of  May, 
1705.  He  was  sometimes  called  the  Tliick-lipped, 
the  large  upper  lip  inherited  with  the  Tyrol  from 


376         Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

Margarethe  Maultasch  being  specially  visible  in 
him.  He  was  in  some  ways  like  the  Emperor 
Rudolf,  being  very  studious  and  learned,  and  also 
so  shy  that  his  nobles  hardly  knew  him  by  sight. 
One  of  his  chamberlains,  Avho  was  seldom  at  the 
palace,  met  a  little  dark  figure  in  a  passage,  and 
asked,  "Where's  the  Kaisar?"  "That  am  I," 
answered  a  hoarse  voice.  The  Empress  Eleonore 
survived  him  fifteen  years,  always  busy  in  works 
of  piety  and  charity,  so  that  she  was  called  "the 
mother  of  the  poor."  When  she  died,  she  bade 
these  words  alone  to  be  inscribed  on  her  coffin-- 
"  Eleonore,  a  poor  dinner,  died  19th  January,  1720. " 


CHAPTER    XXXIX. 

JOSEPH  I., no.j-nii. 

TOSEPH,  the  eldcot  son  of  Leopold  I.,  was 
^  twenty-six  when  he  became  Emperor.  He 
was  a  very  sensible  and  able  man,  superior  to  most 
of  his  family.  He  was  fair  and  handsome,  and  was 
learned  in  many  languages,  with  much  knowledge 
of  art  and  science ;  he  was  also  much  more  free  and 
ready  of  speech  and  manner  than  his  father,  though 
he  hated  fine  speeches,  and  would  not  attend  to 
birthday  odes.  "I  come  to  hear  music,  not  my 
own  praise,"  he  said,  Avhen  these  began  in  the 
theatre. 

He  took  away  some  of  the  harsh  decrees  against 
the  Protestants  who  remained  in  his  hereditary  do- 
minions, and   he  forbade  the    Catholic   priests    to 
preach  sermons  abusing  them,  and  in  everything  he 
377 


378        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

gave  his  chief  confidence  to  Prince  Eugene,  to  whom 
he  looked  up  like  a  father. 

War  was  going  on  everywhere.  Tlie  Bavarians 
had  revolted  against  the  Austrians,  and  called 
back  their  Elector  with  the  help  of  the  French  and 
there  was  a  sharp  Avar  before  he  was  driven  out 
again,  and  put  to  the  ban  of  the  Empire. 

Then  August  of  Saxony,  as  King  of  Poland,  had, 
in  alliance  with  Russia,  made  war  on  the  young 
King  Charles  XII.  of  Sweden,  and  had  thus 
brought  down  on  himself  a  most  terrible  enemy, 
for  Charles  was  one  of  the  most  fierce  and  stern  of 
warriors,  less  like  a  man  than  a  piece  of  iron 
wound  up  to  do  notliing  but  fight.  He  drove 
August  out  of  Poland,  hunted  him  up  and  down 
Saxony,  beat  him  over  and  over  again,  and  would 
not  grant  him  any  respite  unless  he  would  icsign 
the  crown  of  Poland,  and  give  up  other  matters 
very  dear  to  him.  August  begged  to  see  Charles, 
in  hopes  of  softening  liim,  but  the  Swede,  to  show 
contempt  for  the  shameful  luxury  he  found  in  the 
palace  at  Dresden,  would  talk  of  nothing  but  his 
great  jack-boots,  telling  the  other  long  that  n. 
never  took  them  off  save  when  he  went  to  bed. 
He  stayed  a  year  in  Saxony,  and  settled  the  affairs 
of  Poland  by  making  king  a    young   nobleman 


Joseph  I.  879 

named  Stanislas  Lecksinsky,  after  which  he 
marched  off  to  Russia,  where  he  found  the  Czar, 
Peter  the  Great,  much  too  strong  for  him. 

The  war  of  the  Spanish  succession  was  going  on 


JOSEPH     1. 

all  the  time,  though  the  Archduke  Karl  was  unable 
to  hold  any  ground  in  Spaiii.;  Marlborough  was 
fighting  the  French  in  tbft  Netherlands,  and  Eugene 


380        Young  Folks'  History  of  Crermany, 

was  sent  by  Joseph  to  help  liis  cousin  of  Savoy, 
whose  lands  were  being  terribly  ravaged  by  the 
French. 

His  capital,  Turin,  was  being  besieged,  when 
Eugene  brought  up  the  Austrian  army,  and  at- 
tacked the  French  in  their  camp,  gaining  such  a 
victory,  that  out  of  50,000  men  only  20,000  were 
left  by  the  time  the  broken  army  arrived  at  Pig- 
nerol,  and  the  French  were  entirely  driven  out  of 
Lombardy.  Then  Eugene  marched  even  to  the 
kingdom  of  Naples,  where  the  people  were  quite 
willing  to  cast  off  the  dominion  of  Philip  of  France ; 
and  after  tliis,  Eugene  and  Victoi  Amadeus  ad- 
vanced into  the  old  Imperial  fief  of  Provence,  and 
laid  seige  to  Toulon,  but  could  not  take  it.  The 
House  of  Austria  had  never  so  prospered  since  the 
days  of  Charles  V.,  and  Eugene,  going  to  join 
Marlborough  in  the  Netherlands,  shared  in  another 
great  victory  at  Oudenarde. 

After  all  these  losses  Louis  XIV.  began  to  beg 
for  peace,  but  Joseph  and  Queen  Anne  of  England 
would  only  consent  on  condition  that  he  should 
help  to  diive  liis  own  grandson  out  of  Spain,  and 
this  was  too  much  to  ask,  so  the  war  raged  on,  and 
the  allied  armies  in  Flanders  laid  seige  to  Lille, 
which  had  excellent  fortifications,  and  was  defend- 


Joseph  I,  881 

e<i  by  the  brave  Marshal  Boufflers.  Eugene  man- 
aged the  siege,  while  Marlborough  protected  him. 
Two  assaults  were  beaten  off,  and  Eugene  was 
once  struck  on  the  head  by  a  splinter,  and  was 
thought  to  be  killed.  At  last  BoufQers  gave  up  the 
town,  and  retired  into  the  citadel,  hoping  in  vain 
to  be  relieved,  but  the  French  army  would  not 
venture  on  a  battle,  and  a  letter  was  sent  to  Bouf- 
flers allowing  him  to  surrender.  There  was  no 
way  of  sending  it  but  through  the  Austrian  army, 
and  Eugene  himself  forwarded  it  with  a  note  tell- 
ing the  brave  Boufflers  how  much  he  admired  his 
defence,  and  that  he  might  choose  his  own  terms. 
Boufflers  offered  what  he  thought  fair,  and  this  was 
accepted.  He  asked  Eugene  to  dine  with  him,  and 
the  answer  was — "I  will  come  if  you  will  give  me 
one  of  your  siege  dinners ; "  and  so  the  first  course 
consisted  entirely  of  horse-flesli,  dressed  in  differ- 
ent ways. 

The  next  year  there  was  another  terrible  battle 
at  Malplaquet,  still  in  the  Netherlands,  and  harder 
fought  than  any  had  been  before,  though  the 
French  were  again  beaten.  In  the  course  of  the 
battle  Eugene  was  wounded  in  the  knee,  but  he 
would  not  leave  the  field,  saying  that  if  he  lived 


382        Young  Folks*  Sistory  of  Germany, 

till  evening  there  would  be  time  to  dress  wounds 
then. 

But  in  this  full  tide  of  success  a  grievous  blow 
fell  upon  Germany.  Joseph  caught  the  smallpox, 
and,  according  to  the  treatment  of  the  time,  was 
rolled  up  in  twenty  yards  of  scarlet  cloth,  with 
every  breath  of  air  shut  out  from  his  room,  so  that 
it  was  no  wonder  that  he  died  in  his  tliirty-third 
year,  on  the  17th  of  April,  1711.  His  only  son 
had  died  when  a  few  months  old,  and  he  had  onl}- 
two  daughters ;  so  he  left  his  hereditary  states  to 
his  brother,  making  him  sign  what  was  called  the 
Family  Compact,  that  if  he  too  should  have  no 
male  heir,  Joseph's  daughter  should  come  before 
his  in  the  succession. 

The  war  was,  under  Marlborough  and  Eugene, 
carried  on  in  a  much  less  savage  manner,  but  the 
little  courts  of  Germany  were  mostly  in  a  very  bad 
state.  August  of  Saxony  was  the  worst  of  all  the 
princes,  but  they  all  Avanted  more  or  less  to  be  as 
like  Louis  XIV.  as  they  could,  and  imitated  him  in 
his  selfish  vices  and  extravagances  if  they  could  do 
so  in  notliing  else.  They  despised  German  as  a 
vulgar  language,  and  spoke  hardly  anything  but 
French,  while  they  made  all  the  display  they  could, 
and  as  they  were  mostly  very  poor,  this  could  only 


JosepTi  I. 


883 


be  done  by  getting  everything  they  could  out  of 
their  unhappy  peasants,  who  were  very  rough, 
boorish,  and  uncaied  for.  Nor  had  the  cities  by 
any  means  recovered  from  the  effects  of  the  Thirty- 
Years'  War. 


CHAPTER  XL. 

KAKL  VI., 1711-1740. 

I  ^HE  Archduke  Karl  was  still  at  Barcelona 
-*-  when  he  heard  the  news  of  his  brother's 
tleath,  wliich  gave  him  all  the  hereditar}^  possessions 
( f  the  House  of  Hapsburg.  He  sailed  at  once  for 
(jenoa,  wliile  Prince  Eugene  so  dealt  with  the 
Electors  that  they  chose  Karl  Emperor,  and  he  was 
crowned  at  Frankfort,  and  afterwards  as  King  of 
Hungary  at  Presburg. 

But  the  croAvns  of  the  Empire  and  of  Spain  were 
not  to  be  joined  again  b3''  another  Karl.  The 
power  of  Marlborough's  war-party  was  over  with 
Queen  Anne  of  England,  and  the  Earl  of  Oxford 
thought  it  would  be  better  to  let  Philip  of  France 
keep  Spain,  and  that  old  Louis  XIV.  ought  not  to 
be  pushed  any  further.  Karl  meant,  however,  to 
fight  on,  and  sent  Eugene  to  England  to  try  to  per- 

384 


Karl   VL 


385 


suade  Queen  Anne  to  continue  the  war,  but  the 
Savoj'ard  was  not  courtly  enough  to  please  her,  and 
people  in  London  were  disappointed  to  see  a  little, 


dry,  insignificant-looking  elderly  nuin  instead  of 
the  hero  tlicy  expected.  He  gained  nothing  by  his 
visit  but  a  diauiond-hilted  sword  for  himself,  and 


386        Young  Folks'  History  of  Grermany. 

the  English  and  Dutch  troops  were  withdrawn  from 
his  army. 

Then  he  tried  to  stir  up  the  Germans  to  force 
Louis  XIV.  into  giving  up  all  that  France  had 
seized  during  that  long  reign,  but,  say  what  he 
would,  nobody  moved,  and  at  last  Karl  consented 
to  make  peace.  He  gave  up  all  claim  to  Spain, 
but  he  kept  the  Netherlands,  which  had  belonged 
to  the  Spanish  line  ever  since  the  marriage  of  Philip 
the  Handsome  and  Juana  the  Mad,  and  the  for- 
tresses of  Breisach,  Friburg,  and  Kehl  were  restored 
to  Germany.  The  island  of  Sardinia  was  also 
given  up  to  liim,  and  Sicily  was  given  to  the  Duke 
of  Savoy,  while  the  claim  of  the  King  of  Prussia  to 
Neufchatel  in  Switzerland  was  acknowledged. 
This  peace,  which  finished  the  war  of  the  Spanish 
succession,  is  called  the  Peace  of  Utrecht,  and  was 
signed  in  September,  1713. 

Victor  Amadeus  of  Savoy  found  Sicily  too  far 
from  his  dukedom,  so  he  exchanged  it  with  the 
Emperor  for  Sardinia,  and  took  the  title  of  King 
of  the  last-mentioned  isle. 

The  Electors  of  Bavaria  and  Koln  were  pardoned 
and  returned  to  their  lands,  and  the  next  year 
another  Elector  became  a  King,  when  George  of 
Brunswick,  Elector  of  Hanover,  obtained  the  crown 


Karl  VI.  387 

of  England  througli  the  Act  of  Settlement,  whicli 
shut  out  the  Roman  Catholic  lieirs.  It  must  have 
been  a  misfortune  to  Kiiln  to  have  sucli  an  Arch- 
bishop as  their  Elector  restored,  for  he  had  no 
notion  of  the  duties  of  his  office.  Once,  during 
his  exile,  he  gave  notice  that  he  was  going  to  preach 
in  the  Court  Chapel  at  Versailles  on  the  1st  of 
Ai)ril,  and  when  a  large  congregation  had  assem- 
bled he  appeared  in  the  pulpit,  shouted  out,  "  April 
fools  all!"  and  ran  away,  to  the  sound  of  trumpets 
and  kettle-drums. 

His  nephew,  Karl  Albrecht  of  Bavaria,  and  his 
wife  lived  disgraceful  lives,  given  up  to  pleasure. 
They  were  great  hunters,  and  the  lady  kept  twehe 
dogs  always  close  to  her  bedroom,  and  two  in  it, 
and  she  not  only  beat  her  dogs,  but  her  courtie]*s 
with  her  own  hand. 

The  Markgraf  of  Baden,  Karl,  who  built  Karl- 
sruhe, was  another  byword  for  gross  self-indulgence, 
and  the  most  respectable  court  among  tlie  German 
princes  was  that  of  Friedrich  Wilholm  II.,  King  of 
Prussia.  He  was  a  rough,  plain,  religious  man,  but 
with  the  taste  and  manner  of  a  drill-sergeant.  He 
cared  for  nothing  so  much  as  his  army,  and  for 
getting  a  set  of  giants  for  his  guards ;  he  carried  on 
business  with  his  ministers  and  generals  sitting  at 


388         Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

a  table,  smoking  their  pipes  over  tankards  of  beer. 
He  so  liated  French  politeness  and  the  vices  which 
had  come  in  with  it,  that  he  was  perfectly  brutal  in 
his  manners  to  his  wife  and  daughters,  and  greatly 
misused  his  clever  son  Friedi'ich,  who  had  a  passion 
for  everything  French.  When  the  young  man 
tried  to  escape  with  his  friend,  Lieutenant  Katt, 
they  were  seized,  and  treated  as  deserters.  Katt 
was  shot,  and  Friedi-ich  forced  to  stand  and  see  Ms 
friend's  death,  after  which  he  had  a  long  imprison^ 
ment,  till,  when  his  father  forgave  him,  he  was  sud- 
denly brought  out  and  placed  behind  his  mother's 
chair  while  she  was  playing  at  cards. 

In  the  meantime,  Prince  Eugene  was  carrying  on 
a  great  war  with  the  Turks  on  the  Hungarian 
frontier,  where  he  was  joined  by  all  who  wanted  to 
see  good  service.  He  beat  the  Grand  Vizier  at 
Carlowitz,  and  then  took  Temeswar,  and  laid  siege 
to  Belgrade.  The  Turks  came,  250,000  in  num- 
ber, to  its  relief,  and  encamped  on  the  heights 
above,  wliile  Eugene  lay  ill  of  a  fever  in  his  tent. 
On  the  1st  of  August,  1717,  he  was  recovered 
enough  to  give  them  battle.  He  attacked  them  in 
the  middle  of  the  night,  and  gained  a  most  splendid 
victory,  which  immediately  gave  him  possession  of 


Karl  VI,  889 

Belgrade,  and   he   placed  guards  along  the  whole 
bank  of  the  Danube  to  watch  against  the  Turks. 

Karl  VI.  had  no  son,  and  the  great  object  of  the 
latter  half  of  liis  life  was  to  cheat  his  nieces  in  favor 
of  his  daughters.  He  betrothed  his  daughters  to 
the  sons  of  the  Duke  of  Lorraine,  and  obtained  from 
the  diet  and  from  the  powers  of  Europe  consent  to 
a  Pragmatic  Sanction,  by  wliich  the  eldest,  Maria 
Theresa,  was  to  succeed  to  all  his  hereditary  states. 
To  get  the  support  of  Saxony,  Karl  gave  his  sup- 
port to  Friediicli  August  II.,  who  claimed  the 
crown  of  Poland  on  his  father's  death,  against 
Stanislas  Lecksinsky.  The  daughter  of  Stanislas 
was  wife  to  Louis  the  XV.,  and  thus  there  was 
another  war  with  France.  Eugene,  at  seventy-one, 
took  the  command,  and  was  hailed  by  the  army 
with  shouts  of,  "  Our  father,"  while  Friedrich 
Wilhelm  of  Prussia  saluted,  saying,  "I  see  my 
master."  But  there  was  not  much  to  be  done,  the 
French  took  Pliilipsburg,  and  Eugene  was  recalled, 
and  took  leave  of  his  army,  and  went  back  to 
Vieniia,  where  he  spent  the  last  two  years  of  his 
life  in  deeds  of  beneficence.  He  was  so  good  a 
master  that  his  servants  grew  old  under  him,  and 
in  the  last  year  of  his  life  the  united  ages  of  him- 
self,  his    coachman,  and   two   footmen   amounted 


390        Young  Folks'  History  of  G-ermany, 

to  310.  He  now  and  ttien  tried  to  give  advice  to 
Karl,  but  was  not  heeded,  though  he  was  missed 
and  mourned  when  he  died  suddenly  at  seventy- 
three,  in  1719. 

Pie  had  been  the  only  man  in  the  Council  of 
War  who  did  not  cheat,  and  the  army,  though 
counted  at  120,000,  was  really  only  40,000,  and 
they  were  half-starved,  half-clothed,  and  had  use- 
less weapons,  so  they  were  beaten  in  Italy  by  the 
French  and  Spaniards,  and  in  Hungary  by  the 
Turks,  and  Karl  had  to  make  the  best  peace  lie 
could.  It  was  a  strange  arrangement  —  Friedrich 
August  of  Saxony  was  to  keep  Poland,  and  Stanis- 
las Lecksinsky  was  to  have  Lorraine,  and  leave  it 
to  his  daughter,  the  French  Queen.  The  real 
Duke  Franz,  husband  to  Maria  Theresa,  was  to  have 
Tuscany  instead,  and  everybody  again  promised 
that  she  should  have  the  Austrian  dominions,  and 
gave  hopes  that  her  husband  should  be  chosen 
Emperor,  he  being  descended  from  Karl  the  Great. 
But  faith,  truth,  and  honesty  were  little  heeded. 
Everybody  preyed  upon  the  Emperor,  and  the  waste 
was  beyond  belief.  Two  hogsheads  of  Tokay  wine 
were  said  to  be  used  daily  'for  dipping  the  bread 
on  which  the  Empress's  parrots  were  fed,  twelve 
gallons  of  wine  were  supposed  to  be  used  every 


Karl   VI. 


391 


day  for  her  possetts,  and  twelve  barrels  for  her 
baths,  wliile  all  the  Austrian  states  were  in  a 
wretched  state  of  want  and  misery,  all  because 
Karl  was  dull  and  unheeding.  lie  died  on  the 
12th  of  October,  1740,  the  last  male  heir  of  the 
House  of  Ilapsburg. 


•^n^-^ 


CHAPTER   XLI. 

KARL  VII 1740. 

NOBODY  cared  for  Karl  VI.'s  Pragmatic  Sanc- 
tion any  more  than  he  had  cared  for  Joseph's 
Family  Compact.  No  sooner  was  he  dead  than  the 
husbands  of  the  two  daughters  of  Joseph  put 
forward  their  claim;  Marie  Josepha  had  married 
Friedrich  August  of  Saxony,  King  of  Poland,  and 
Maria  Amalie,  Karl,  Elector  of  Bavaria,  who  was 
also  descended  from  Ferdinand  I. 

Moreover,  Friedrich  II.  of  Prussia,  who  had  that 
year  succeeded  his  father,  the  old  Corporal  of  Pots- 
dam, was  determined  to  use  his  fine  army  to  get 
something  for  himself,  so,  only  a  month  after  the 
Emperor's  death,  he  dashed  into  Silesia,  and  seized 
a  number  of  towns.  Then  he  wrote  to  Maria 
Theresa  that  he  would  support  her  claims  and  vote 

392 


Karl  VII.  395 

for  her  husband  as  Emperor  if  she  would  give  up 
the  province  to  him. 

Marie  Theresa  was  a  beautiful  and  brave  young 
woman  of  tliree-and-twenty,  and  would  not  submit 
to  such  treatment.  She  sent  her  army  against  the 
Prussians,  and  a  battle  was  fought  at  Mollwitz, 
when  Friediich  thought  all  was  lost,  and  galloped 
off  the  field,  saying  to  liis  staff —  "  Adieu,  messieurs, 
I  am  the  best  mounted ; "  but  when  he  saw  them 
again,  it  was  to  find  that,  so  far  from  being  routed, 
they  had  gained  a  complete  victor}'. 

France  and  Spain  joined  Bavaria,  Saxony,  and 
Prussia  against  Maria  Theresa,  and  at  the  diet  at 
Frankfort  in  1742,  Karl  of  Bavaria  was  chosen  Em- 
peror, but  without  the  vote  of  George  II.  of  Eng- 
land, the  Elector  of  Hanover,  and  the  only  ally  of 
the  brave  young  Queen.  Karl  invaded  Austria, 
and  August,  Bohemia ;  Vienna  was  in  danger,  but 
Karl  was  jealous  of  the  progress  of  the  Saxons,  and 
turned  aside  to  secure  Bohemia,  wliich  he  mastered 
for  a  time.  He  was  crowned  at  Prague,  and  set 
out  to  receive  the  Imperial  crown  at  Frankfort. 

Maria  Theresa  was  driven  from  city  to  city,  but 
she  was  resolved  not  to  give  up  one  jot  of  her  in- 
heritance. Her  hope  was  in  the  Hungarians,  and 
when  she  went  to  Presbuig  to  be  crowned,  she  ap- 


396        Young  Folks'  History  of  G-ermany, 

peared  before  the  diet  in  robes  of  deep  mourning 
for  her  father,  but  jewelled  all  over,  and  with  the 
sacred  crown  of  St.  Stephen  on  her  head,  her  fair 
liair  flowing  below  in  rich  curls,  the  sword  girded 
to  her  waist,  and  her  little  son  Joseph  in  her  arms. 
She  made  the  diet  a  spirited  speech  in  Latin,  which 
was  the  state  language  in  Hungary,  which  so 
stirred  the  hearts  of  the  brave  INIagyar  nobility, 
that  they  all  waved  their  swords  in  the  air,  and 
cried  out  in  one  voice  in  Latin — '•'' Moriamur  pro 
rege^  Maria  Theresia"  (Let  us  die  for  our  King, 
Maria  Theresa).  Then  she  put  on  the  royal  breast- 
plate, mounted  a  charger,  and  rode  up  the  royal 
mount,  defying  the  four  corners  of  the  world  with 
her  drawn  sword  in  true  kingly  fasliion. 

Not  only  all  the  Hungarians,  but  their  neighbors, 
the  Croats  and  Transylvanians,  mustered  in  her 
favor.  The  English  raised  money  to  equip  them, 
and,  in  the  meantime,  her  enemies  were  quarreling 
out  of  jealousy  of  one  another ;  and  Friedrich  IL 
let  her  know  that  he  would  join  her  if  she  would 
give  up  the  whole  of  Silesia  to  lum. 

On  the  very  day  on  which  Karl  VII.  was 
crowned  at  Aachen,  ]\Iaria  Theresa's  brother-in-law, 
Charles  V.  of  Lorraine,  invaded  Bavaria,  and  drove 
out  the  French  army.     However,  he  was  soon  after 


Karl   VU. 


397 


defeated  by  the  Prussians  at  Czaslau,  on  the  Bck 
hemian  border,  and  this  loss  brought  the  Queen  of 
Hungary  tc  consent  to  his  terms,  and  give  up  Si- 
lesia to  him,  though  with  great  grief  and  bitterness. 


KARL   VIL 


She  had  also  made  peace  with  the  King  of  Saxony, 
and  had  only  Bavaria  and  France  to  fight  with ; 
but  she  had  England  on  her  side,  and  she  hoped 


398         Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

that  she  should  conquer  back  again  Lorraine,  her 
husband's  proper  inheritance. 

Prague  was  held  by  the  French  under  Marshal 
Belleisle  for  the  Emperor.  It  was  closely  block- 
aded by  Prince  Charles  of  Lorraine,  who  drove 
back  the  army  coming  to  their  help,  and  expected 
soon  to  have  the  whole  French  garrison  in  his 
hands;  but  it  was  the  depth  of  winter,  and  the 
cold  prevented  his  watching  closely  enough,  so 
that  Marshal  Belleisle,  with  provisions  for  twelve 
days,  made  liis  way  out  at  night  with  14,000  men, 
only  leaving  behind  him  a  small  guard  Avith  the 
sick  and  wounded  in  the  citadel.  He  reached 
Egra  on  the  twelfth  day,  having  lost  onl}'  100  men 
by  attacks  of  the  enemy,  but  1200  by  the  fright- 
ful weather,  so  that  the  Bohemians  found  the  roads 
dreadful  to  behold,  for  they  were  overspread  with 
corpses,  heaps  of  a  hundred  or  more  lying  stiffened 
with  frost  all  together.  Still  all  the  cannon  and 
colors  were  saved,  and  when  the  guard  in  the 
citadel  were  summoned  to  surrender,  their  office!- 
answered  that  unless  lie  were  allowed  to  march  out 
with  the  honors  of  war,  he  should  set  fire  to  the 
four  corners  of  the  city,  and  perish  in  it. 

He  was  therefore  allowed  to  go  free  with  his 
army,  ^nd  Maria  Theresa  celebrated  her  conquest 


Karl    Vn.  399 

by  a  chariot  race,  as  like  those  of  the  ancient 
Greeks  as  possible,  considering  that  ladies  drove 
in  it,  and  the  Queen  and  her  sister  were  among  the 
competitors. 

On  the  12th  of  May,  1743,  Maria  Theresa  was 
crowned  Queen  of  Bohemia,  having  thus  gained  all 
her  hereditary  dominions,  which  she  ruled  ^vith 
great  vigor  and  spirit,  having  set  everything  on  a 
much  better  footing  than  had  been  in  her  father's 
time. 

Her  brother-in-law,  Prince  Charles,  marched  to 
punish  the  Emperor,  and  beat  him  and  the  French, 
so  that  Munich  had  to  be  deserted,  and  to  obtain 
some  kind  of  respite,  he  made  a  treaty  ■w'ith  the 
Queen,  engaging  to  remain  neutral,  and  to  re- 
nounce all  liis  claims  to  the  Austrian  succession. 

The  war  with  France  still  went  on,  and  the 
English  and  Austrian  armies,  with  George  the  II. 
at  their  head,  routed  the  French  at  Dettingen. 
The  old  days  of  INIarlborough  and  Eugene  seemed 
to  be  coming  again,  and  Vienna  was  in  transports 
of  joy.  The  Queen  was  out  on  a  water-party  on 
the  Danube  when  the  news  arrived,  and  the  whole 
population  poured  out  to  meet  her,  and  lined  the 
banks  for  nine  miles,  shouting  with  ecstacy. 

It  was  said  of  her  that  she  was  like  the  English 


400        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany, 

Elizabeth,  iii  being  able  to  make  every  man  about 
her  a  hero  ;  and,  not  concented  with  what  she  had 
recovered,  she  baffled  George  II.'s  endeavors  to 
make  peace,  being  resolved  to  force  Karl  of  Ba- 
varia .to  resign  the  title  of  Emperor,  and  to  con- 
quer back  Elsass  and  Lorraine.  However,  her 
attacks  on  these  provinces  did  not  prosper,  and 
her  other  scheme  was  prevented  by  the  death  of 
the  unfortunate  Karl  VIL,  who  died  early  in  1745 
from  the  shock  of  hearing,  when  already  ill  of  the 
gout,  of  the  defeat  of  the  French  in  a  skirmish. 
He  advised  his  son,  Maximilian  Joseph,  not  to  let 
himself,  like  him,  be  made  a  French  tool,  but  to 
make  his  peace  with  Austria  as  soon  as  possible. 


CHAPTER  XLII. 

FRANZ  I., 1745-1765. 

^  I  ^HERE  was  no  difficulty  made  about  electing 
-■-  Franz  of  Lorraine,  the  husband  of  ]Maria 
Theresa,  Emperor  on  the  death  of  Karl  VII .  The 
new  Elector  of  Bavaria  made  his  peace  by  giving 
him  his  vote,  and  Friedrich  II.  of  Prussia  acknowl- 
edged him.  Maria  Theresa  was  henceforth  called 
the  Empress  Queen.  She  loved  her  husband 
heartily,  but  she  let  him  have  no  authority  in  her 
own  hereditary  dominions,  which  she  ruled  in  her 
own  right,  and  an  Emperor  had  by  this  time  hardly 
any  power  over  the  princes  of  German}-,  and  was 
little  more  than  a  name. 

Tlie   war  in   Germany  was  over,  but  that  with 
France  still  lasted,  with  England  still  as  the  ally  of 
Austria;   but    France    had    now   a   great   general, 
401 


402        Young  Folks    History  of  Grermany. 

Marshal  Saxe,  a  half-brother  of  the  King  of  Saxony 
and  he  gained  so  many  advantages  that  Maria 
Theresa  and  George  11.  at  length  consented  to 
make  peace  with  Louis  XV.  at  Aachen,  or,  as  the 
French  call  it,  Aix-la-Chaj)elle,  in  1748,  and  Europe 
had  rest  for  eight  years. 

Meantime  Friedrich  II.  was  hard  at  work  improv- 
ing his  country  as  well  as  his  army,  causing  great 
works  to  be  done  in  husbandry  and  in  manufac- 
tures, and  working  up  Prussia  to  be  one  of  the 
foremost  and  most  prosperous  kingdoms  in  Europe, 
for  he  was  a  wonderfully  clear  and  far-sighted  man. 
Unhappily,  the  rude,  harsh  way  in  Avhich  liis  father 
had  tried  to  force  religion  on  him  had  given  him  a 
dislike  to  it,  which  made  him  think  all  piety  folly. 
These  were  the  days  when  the  French  were  writing 
books  full  of  sneers  at  all  faith,  and  Friedrich,  who 
despised  everything  German  and  admired  every- 
thing French,  never  rested  till  he  had  brought  the 
greatest  unbeliever  of  them  all,  Voltaire,  the  witty 
writer  of  j^oetry,  to  his  court  at  Potsdam.  The 
guest  was  received  with  rapture,  and  Friedrich 
thought  nothing  too  good  for  him ;  but  the  King 
and  the  poet  were  equally  vain  —  Voltaire  thought 
he  could  meddle  with  state  affairs,  and  Friedrich 
fancied  himself  able  to  write  poetry.    They  laughed 


Franz  I.  403 

at  each  other  in  private,  and  people  carried  the  say- 
ings of  one  to  the  otlier.  Voltaire  exclaimed,  when 
Friedrich  sent  him  some  verses  to  correct  —  "Here 
is  more  of  his  dirty  linen  to  wash;"  and  Friedrich 
was  reported  to  have  said  he  only  wanted  Voltaire 
till  he  could  squeeze  the  orange  and  throw  away 
the  rind.  Moreover,  Voltaire  gave  himself  great 
airs  to  the  King's  suite.  Once,  at  dinner,  he  called 
a  noble  young  page  who  was  waiting  a  Pomeranian 
beast.  When  the  youth  was,  shortly  after,  attend- 
ing the  Frenchman  on  a  journey,  he  told  the  crowd 
that  the  little,  thin,  diy  figure  grinning  and  chatter- 
ing in  the  carriage  was  the  King's  monkey,  so  when 
Voltaire  tried  to  open  the  door  they  closed  in  to 
catch  him,  and  the  more  he  raged,  the  more  monkey- 
like they  thought  him. 

The  two  friends  quarreled  desperately,  and 
Voltaire  left  Berlin  in  a  passion,  but  was  pursued 
and  arrested  because  he  had  a  poem  of  the  King's 
in  his  boxes.  However,  he  was  soon  set  free,  and 
afterwards  they  made  up  their  quarrel,  though 
without  meeting. 

Marie  Theresa's  heart  was  set  on  getting  back 
Silesia,  and  most  of  the  powers  of  Europe  distrusted 
the  King  of  Prussia.  So  she  and  her  minister, 
Count    Kaunitz,  began   to   form   alliances   against 


404         Young  Folks'  History  of  G-ermany. 

Friedrich.  On  liis  side  he  had  made  friends  with 
England,  and  the  Empress  Queen  hiid  aside  her 
hatred  to  France,  and  agreed  with  Louis  XV.,  the 
Empress  Elizabeth  of  Russia,  and  the  Kmg  of 
Saxony  and  Poland,  to  tame  the  pride  of  the  House 
of  Brandenburg. 

Friedrich,  finding  out  these  alliances,  sent  to  de- 
mand of  Maria  Theresa  whether  there  was  to  be 
peace  or  war,  and,  on  her  answer,  he  began  the 
Seven  Years'  War  in  1756  by  dashing  into  Saxony. 
He  gained  a  victory  at  Lowositz,  and  pushed  on  to 
Dresden,  where  he  sent  his  Scotch  general.  Marshal 
Keith,  to  demand  the  King's  papers,  where  he 
knew  he  should  find  proofs  of  the  league  against 
liim.  The  Queen  —  daughter  to  Joseph  I. — re- 
fused to  give  them  up,  stood  in  front  of  the  box, 
and  sat  upon  it,  only  giving  them  up  when  she 
found  the  King  would  use  violence.  She  was  al- 
lowed to  join  her  husband  in  Poland,  where  she 
died  of  grief  for  the  misery  of  her  country. 

Then  marching  into  Bohemia,  Friedrich  fought  a 
dreadful  battle  with  Charles  of  Lorraine,  which 
lasted  eleven  hoiu's.  He  gained  the  victory  and 
besieged  Prague,  but  was  beaten  at  Kollin  by  the 
Austrian  army  who  came  to  relieve  it,  and  was  so 
grieved  at  the  disaster  that  he  sat  for  hours  silent 


Franz  I.  407 

on  a  hollow  tree,  drawing  figures  in  the  sand  with 
his  stick. 

He  was  forced  to  leave  Bohemia,  and  in  the 
meantime  the  Swedes  and  Russians  were  ovemm- 
ning  the  Prussian  provinces,  and  his  English 
friends  had  been  beaten  at  Hastenbeck  by  the 
French,  and  had  left  the  way  open  into  Prussia. 
Friedrich  and  his  kingdom  seemed  as  if  they  must 
be  crushed  among  all  these  great  powers.  He  had 
made  up  his  mind  to  die  rather  than  yield,  and 
carried  about  mth  him  a  bottle  of  poison,  though 
all  the  time  he  never  ceased  from  his  dry,  sharp 
jokes.  He  was  the  most  skillful  captain  in  all 
Europe,  and  was  able  to  save  his  country  by  a 
splendid  victory  over  the  French  at  Rossbach,  and 
another  over  the  Austrians  at  Leuthen.  The  next 
year,  1758,  he  beat  the  Russians  at  Zorndorf,  but 
after  that  he  suffered  two  defeats.  He  lost  his 
faithful  Scottish  Marshal  Keith  at  Zorndorf,  and  at 
Kunersdorf,  when  the  battle  was  over,  he  had  only 
3000  men  left  out  of  48,000,  and  had  to  sleep  on 
straw  in  a  hut,  with  tliree  balls  in  his  clothes. 
Dresden  was  taken  by  the  Austrians,  but  the  Rus- 
sians had  suffered  so  much  in  their  victory  that 
they  had  to  retreat  from  Prussia. 

The    battle   of    Minden    was    fought    to    save 


408         Young  Folks'  History  of  Crermany. 

Hanover  from  the  French  by  the  English  and  Ger 
mans,  and  was  a  victory,  though  ill-managed. 
Friedrich  was  able  to  besiege  Dresden,  which  he 
ruined  by  a  cruel  cannonade  but  could  not  take, 
for  the  Austrians  were  upon  him  again,  took  Berlin, 
and  overran  Prussia.  Their  General,  Esterhazy, 
lodged  in  Potsdam  itself,  but  he  would  not  let  it 
be  plundered,  and  only  took  away  one  picture  as  a 
trophy.  Meantime,  Friedrich  fought  a  frightful 
battle  at  Torgau  in  Saxony  with  Marshal  Daun. 
He  was  struck  down  by  a  spent  ball,  and  carried 
to  the  village  church,  where  he  lay  on  the  floor 
writhing,  and  Marshal  Zeithen  fought  on  in  the  dark, 
thinking  the  battle  lost,  till  morning  light  showed 
that  the  Austrians  were  driven  away,  and  the  field 
covered  with  heaps  of  slain. 

Torgau  was  the  last  battle  of  the  Seven  Years' 
War.  Everybody  was  worn  out,  and  Maria  The- 
resa found  that  though  Prussia  might  seem  over- 
whelmed for  a  moment,  it  always  revived  more 
fiercely  than  ever,  and  she  consented  to  conferences 
being  held  at  Hubertsberg.  A  treaty  was  made  in 
lf-7^  by  which  Saxony  went  back  to  August  III., 
and '  Silesia  was  left  in  the  hands  of  Friedrich. 
Nothing  had  been  gained  by  anyone  in  this  horrible 
war,  in  winch  640,000  men  had  died,  and  misery 


FRIEDKICH   Till:   GR£AT   ANO  ZEITHSH 


Franz  I.  411 

unspeakable   inflicted  on   the    unhappy   people  of 
Saxony,  Prussia,  and  Silesia. 

Two  years  later,  in  1775,  Maria  Theresa  lost  her 
husband,  the  Emperor  Franz  I.,  a  good  man,  whom 
she  loved  devotedly,  and  called  her  lieart's  joy. 
She  almost  broke  her  heart  when  he  died,  she  let 
no  one  sew  his  sliroud  but  herself,  and  for  the  rest 
of  her  life  used  to  spend  many  hours  in  praying  by 
his  cofPni  in  the  vault  of  the  chapel  of  her  palace 
at  Vienna. 


CHAPTER    XLIII. 

JOSEPH  II., 1765-1790. 

I  ^HE  eldest  of  the  many  sons  of  Franz  I.  and 
-*-  Maria  Theresa  was  elected  Emperor,  but 
his  mother  remained  sovereign  of  her  hereditary 
states,  and  the  title  of  Emperor  conveyed  hardly 
i.nj  power.  Germany  was  a  collection  of  states, 
fcome  large,  but  mostly  very  small.  Prussia  and 
Saxony,  Bavaria  and  Wurtemburg,  were  large  and 
powerful,  but  there  were  many  like  dukedoms  and 
principalities,  not  so  large  as  an  English  count}^, 
and  these,  like  the  free  towns,  belonged  indeed  to 
the  Empire,  but  were  no  more  rided  by  the  Em- 
peror than  were  France  or  England. 

August  III.  of  Saxony  died  soon  after  his  return 
from  Dresden,  and  the  crown  of  Poland  was  given 
to  a  noble  named  Stanislas  Poniatowsky,  whom  the 
Empress  Catherine  of  Russia  forced  the  Poles  to 

412 


Joseph  II.  413 

elect.  Prussia  meantime  was  recovering  from  its 
misfortunes  under  Friedrich  II.,  whose  wonderful 
skill  in  this  terrible  war  had  earned  liim  tlie  name 
of  the  Great.  He  helped  the  people  who  had 
suffered  most  with  gifts  of  money  and  corn,  lie 
drained  marshes,  opened  canals,  and  wonderfully  im- 
proved the  country.  He  did  all  this  by  taxes  on 
salt,  coffee,  and  tobacco,  at  which  people  grumbled 
a  good  deal,  but  he  never  punished  any  one  for  tliis, 
saying  his  people  might  talk  as  much  as  tliey  please  •! 
if  they  would  only  obey.  Once  wlien  he  found  a 
crowd  staring  at  a  caricature  of  himself  sitting  c  n 
the  ground  with  a  coffee-mill  between  his  legs, 
and  the  label,  "  Old  Fritz,  the  coffee-grinder,"  1  e 
laughed  at  it,  and  had  it  pasted  lower  down  on  tl  e 
wall  that  the  people  might  see  it  better.  He  was 
very  just  even  where  his  own  plans  were  concerned, 
and  left  a  windmill  standing,  an  eye-sore  to  his 
favorite  palace  of  Sans  Souci,  because  the  miller 
would  not  part  with  it.  He  built  churches  f(tr 
both  Protestants  and  Roman  Catholics,  but  he  had 
no  fixed  faith  liimself,  and  encouraged  all  kinds  of 
bold  questionings  around  him. 

Young  Joseph  II.  much  admired  him,  and  longed 
to  bring  in  his  reforms  to  Austria,  but  the  Em- 
press Queen  would  not  hear  of  them.     When  her 


414         Yuiiny  Fulks    History  of  Germany. 

son  wanted  to  pull  down  the  walls  that  shut  in 
Vienna,  she  said,  "I  am  an  old  woman.  I  can 
almost  remember  Vienna  besieged  by  the  Tiu'ks 
I  have  twice  seen  it  almost  the  frontier  of  my 
dominions.  Let  Joseph  do  as  he  pleases  when 
I  am  dead.  Wliile  I  live,  Vienna  shall  not  be  dis- 
mantled." 

Joseph,  in  his  eagerneo.;  to  copy  the  King  of 
Prussia,  went  to  visit  liim,  under  the  name  of 
Count  Falkenstein,  and  the  two  were  so  delighted 
with  one  another  that  tlie  Emperor  always  spoke 
of  Friedrich  as  "  the  King,  my  master,"  and  the 
King  lumg  his  rooms  at  Sans  Souci  with  portraits 
of  Joseph  as  ''  a  young  man  of  whom  lie  could 
not  see  enough." 

Joseph's  head  was  already  full  of  Friedrich's 
free-thinking  notions,  as  well  as  of  his  able  plans 
for  his  countr}^  and  he  was  now  persuaded  into  a 
wicked  scheme,  contrived  by  Friedrich  and  by 
Catherine  of  Russia,  who  was  likewise  an  unbe- 
liever, namely,  that  the  tlu-ee  powers  —  Russia, 
Austria,  and  Prussia,  should  seize  on  the  unfortu- 
nate country  of  Poland,  and  divide  it  between 
them.  It  had  always  been  badly  governed;  the 
kings  were  elective,  and  never  had  power  enough 
to  keep  order,  and  the  nobles  were  always  fighting ; 


MARIA    THERESA    AND    KAUNITZ. 


Joseph  II.  417 

but  that  did  not  make  the  ruin  of  it  less  a  wicked 
act  on  the  part  of  the  tliree  nobles,  and  so  thought 
the  Empress  Queen,  who  wrote  that  she  had  not 
been  so  unhappy  even  when  she  had  hardly  a  city 
in  which  to  lay  her  head,  but  Friedrich  only 
laughed,  and  said,  "I  would  as  soon  write  the 
Jewish  history  in  madrigals  as  make  three  sover- 
eigns agree,  especially  when  two  are  women." 

She  was  old  now,  and,  in  spite  of  all  she  could 
say  and  wi-ite,  her  son  and  Kaunitz  had  their  way, 
the  Poles  were  too  quarrelsome  and  broken  into 
parties  to  make  much  resistance,  and  the  plan  was 
carried  out,  though  not  all  at  once. 

In  1777  died  jMaximilian,  Elector  of  Bavaria. 
Karl  Theodoc  of  the  Rhine  was  the  right  heir,  but 
Joseph  set  up  an  unjust  claim  to  two-thirds  of  it 
through  one  of  his  ancestresses,  in  spite  of  his 
mother,  and  frightened  the  Elector  into  yielding. 
However,  Friedrich  took  up  the  cause,  and  marched 
into  Bohemia,  saying  he  was  only  come  to  teach  a 
young  gentleman  his  military  exercise,  and  he  man- 
aged so  cleverly  to  avoid  a  battle  that  this  was 
called  the  potato  war,  because  the  men  did  little 
but  roast  potatoes  at  their  watch-fires.  Maria 
Theresa  ^vl•ote  to  Friedrich  that  she  could  not  bear 
that  they  should  begin  again  to  tear  one  another's 


418        Young  Folks'  History  of  Ciermany. 

grey  hairs,  at  wliicli  Joseph  was  very  angry,  but  at 
last  peace  was  made  at  Teschen,  to  her  great  de- 
light. 

After  this,  Joseph  set  out  to  make  a  visit  to  the 
Russian  Empress.  His  favorite  way  of  traveling  M^as 
to  ride  on  before  his  suite,  pretending  to  be  a  courier 
sent  on  to  order  horses,  dine  on  a  sausage  and 
some  beer,  and  ride  on  as  soon  as  the  carriages  came 
in  sight.  Thus  he  found  our  how  to  do  many  kind 
acts.  Once  he  offered  to  stand  godfather  to  a  child 
newly  born  in  a  poor  hut,  and  amazed  the  parents 
by  coming  to  the  christening  in  full  state  as  Em- 
peror ;  and  another  evening  he  supped  with  an 
orHcer  with  a  poor  pension,  who  had  ten  children 
of  his  own,  but  had  adopted  an  orphan  besides. 
Soon  after  came  a  letter  from  the  Emperor,  endow- 
ing each  of  the  eleven  with  two  hundred  florins 
a-year. 

Joseph  came  home  in  1780,  just  as  his  mothei 
was  dying,  leaving  nine  survivors  out  of  her  six- 
teen children.  She  had  been  a  good  woman,  a 
pious  and  upright  queen,  and  she  was  greatly  loved 
by  her  people,  whom  she  had  heartily  loved  and 
worked  for.  Her  death  left  Joseph  free  to  try  to 
follow  his  favorite  Friedrich's  example,  and  to 
sweep  away  all  that  he  thought  worn-out  and  use- 


Joseph  n.  42i 

less.  So  would  not  go  to  be  crowned  in  Hungary 
because  he  would  not  swear  to  obe}'  the  old  consti- 
tution, and  he  carried  off  the  crown  of  St.  Stephen 
to  Vienna.  Love  of  his  mother  prevented  a  re- 
bellion, but  there  was  great  discontent  at  the 
changes  he  made. 

In  all  his  dominions  he  made  chancres.  He  for- 
bade  his  clergy  to  appeal  to  the  Pope,  he  altered 
bishoprics,  broke  up  three  hundi'ed  convents,  leav- 
ing only  those  that  were  schools,  prevented  pilgrim- 
ages, and  removed  images  from  the  churches. 
The  Pope,  Pius  VI.,  came  to  Vienna  to  plead  with 
him,  but  the  Emperor  treated  him  with  cold  civil- 
ity, and  would  not  let  the  Austrian  clergy  visit 
him,  even  walling  up  the  back  door  of  his  house 
lest  they  should  get  in  privately. 

Joseph  wanted  to  exchange  the  Netherlands  for 
the  duchy  of  Bavaria,  but  Friedricli  the  Great  in- 
duced all  the  other  German  powers  to  make  a 
league  against  any  change  in  the  Empire,  and  he 
had  to  give  way.  It  was  the  last  work  of  Fried- 
rich,  Avlio  was  so  ill  that  he  could  neither  ride, 
walk,  nor  lie  down,  tliough  he  still  attended  to 
business,  listened  to  the  books  of  the  day,  and 
played  with  his  dogs,  the  beings  he  seemed  to  love 
best.     He  even  desired  to  be  buried  among  them 


422        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

in  his  garden  when  he  died  in  1786,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  nephew,  Friedrich  Willielm  II., 
having  made  his  little  kingdom  a  great  power. 

Joseph  had  not  strength  or  skill  to  succeed  in  an 
old  country  as  he  had  done  in  a  new  one.  Every- 
one was  in  a  state  of  grief  and  anger  at  the  changes, 
and  he  declared  his  heart  must  be  of  stone  not  to 
break  when  he  found  that,  while  he  meant  to  do 
good,  he  had  only  done  harm,  and  made  enemies  of 
liis  mother's  faithful  people.  He  tried  to  help  the 
Russian  Empress  to  conquer  the  Turks,  hoping  to 
get  a  share  for  liimself,  but  he  lost  many  men  in 
the  marshes  on  the  Danube  from  illness  and  in 
skirmishes,  and  he  caught  a  fever  himself,  and  came 
home  to  Vienna  ill,  and  grieved  at  the  bad  news 
which  came  in  from  all  sides.  "  My  epitaph  should 
be  — '  Here  lies  a  monarch  who,  with  the  best  in- 
tentions, never  carried  out  a  single  plan,'  "  he  said. 
And  he  soon  died,  broken-hearted,  in  his  49th  year, 
on  the  20th  of  February,  1790. 


CHAPTER   XLIV. 

LEOPOLD  II., 1790-1792. 

T  EOPOLD,  the  next  brother  to  Joseph,  had 
■* — '  received  the  duchy  of  Tuscany  on  his  father's 
death,  and  had  ruled  there  twenty-five  years.  He 
came  to  the  crown  in  very  dangerous  times,  amid 
the  troubles  that  had  darkened  the  last  days  of 
Joseph. 

Himgary  had  revolted,  saying  Joseph  had  broken 
all  their  laws,  and  that,  as  the  direct  male  line  of 
Hapsburg  had  failed,  they  had  the  right  of  choos- 
ing their  King.  Moreover,  the  Netherlands  had 
been  angry  at  the  interference  of  Joseph  with  their 
old  laws,  and  had  revolted,  and  set  up  a  republic 
on  their  own  account,  and  there  was  a  terrible  ex- 
ample close  at  hand  in  France  of  the  dangers  that 
might  beset  kings  who  had  tried  their  people's  pa- 
tience too  long.  Leopold's  youngest  sister,  ^Nlarie 
423 


424        Young  Folka"  HUtory  of  Germany. 

Antoinette,  was,  .with  her  husband,  Louis  XVI., 
threatened  daily  by  the  mob  of  Paris,  while  the 
National  Assembly  were  changing  all  the  laws  and 
institutions,  and  viewed  the  King  and  Queen  as 
their  greatest  enemies,  hating  her  especially  as  an 
Austrian,  as  they  considered  the  Hapsburgs  as  the 
great  foes  of  France.  She  was  like  a  prisoner  in 
her  own  palace,  while  Germany,  like  all  the  coun- 
tries, was  fast  filling  with  emigrant  nobles,  who 
fled  from  the  savage  violence  of  the  people,  who 
rose  to  revenge  the  long  course  of  oppression  they 
had  suffered. 

Germany  being  the  easiest  country  to  reach,  a 
much  lower  and  worse  stamp  of  emigrants  went 
thither  than  those  who  came  to  England.  There 
they  behaved  well,  and  made  themselves  respected 
as  well  as  pitied,  but  in  Germany  many  lived  low, 
dissipated  lives,  and  increased  the  taste  the  Ger- 
mans had  for  French  manners  and  language,  and 
unfortunately,  for  French  fashions  and  vices. 

Leopold  could  do  nothing  to  help  his  sister,  foJ 
Friedrich  Wilhelm  III.  of  Prussia,  a  vicious  and 
selfish  man,  hoping  to  rise  on  the  ruins  of  the 
House  of  Austria,  encouraged  all  the  disturbances 
in  the  Austrian  dominions,  and  let  the  discontented 
Hungarian  nobles  hold  meetings  at  Berhn.     More- 


Leopold  IL  426 

over,  the  vrar  -with  Turkey  which  Joseph  had  be- 
gun was  still  going  on. 

The  Austrians  took  the  city  of  Orsova,  but  after 
trying  to  besiege  Widdin,  they  were  obliged  to 
make  a  truce  ^vith  the  Turks,  because  the  Prussian 
King  had  taken  up  arms  against  them,  and  had  a 
great  army  in  Silesia,  \\\i\i  Avhieh  he  threatened  to 
invade  the  Austrian  province  of  Gallicia,  and  as  he 
still  had  in  his  army  many  of  the  old  generals  of 
Friedrich  the  Great,  he  thought  himself  able  to  do 
everything.  However,  the  English  and  Dutch 
came  forward,  and  made  peace  between  Austria 
and  Prussia,  and  Prussia  then  mediated  between 
Austria  and  Turkey. 

After  this,  the  King  of  Prussia  voted  for  Leo- 
pold's election  as  Emperor,  and  he  was  crowned 
at  Frankfort.  At  the  same  time  he  quieted  his 
Austrian  subjects  l)v  undoing  some  of  the  changes 
to  which  they  had  most  objected,  and  tried  to  gov- 
ern as  much  as  possible  in  his  mother's  spirit, 
which,  though  it  seemed  to  the  new  way  of  think- 
ing narrow  and  unenlightened,  was  kind  and 
fatherly,  and  suited  the  loyal  Austrians  and  Tyrol- 
ese. 

He  had  more  trouble  with  Hungary,  which  was 
always  turbulent,  and  which  had  been  completely 


426        Young  Folks'  History  of  Grermany. 

unsettled  b}^  Joseph's  reforms  and  the  resistance 
to  them,  and  the  nobles  sent  him  a  set  of  demands 
wliich  he  would  not  grant,  only  promising  to  gov- 
ern Hungary  as  his  grandfather  and  mother  had 
done.  They  were  obliged  to  be  satisfied,  and  he 
sent  the  crown  of  St.  Stephen  to  Presburg,  and 
came  thither  himself,  with  his  five  sons,  for  his  cor- 
onation. The  Hungarians  welcomed  him  warmly, 
and  they  chose  his  fourth  son,  Leopold,  to  act  as 
their  Palatine,  and  to  place  the  crown  upon  his 
father's  head. 

He  then  prepared  to  teach  the  Netherlands  to 
submit  to  him,  and  entered  the  country.  The 
States  were  of  various  minds  as  to  what  they  wanted, 
their  leaders  were  quarreling,  and  they  ended  by 
yielding  to  him  one  by  one,  but  not  without  leaving 
a  great  deal  of  discontent,  which  was  much  in- 
creased by  all  that  was  passing  in  France. 

Leopold  was  free  now  to  do  sometliing  for  his 
sister  and  her  husband,  and  he  allied  himself  Avith 
Prussia  and  Spain,  preparing  armies  to  march  upon 
France,  while  the  emigrant  nobles  eagerly  enlisted. 
He  sent  messages  to  the  King  and  Queen  of  France 
that  they  had  better  wait  patiently  till  he  could 
rescue  them,  and  try  to  win  back  their  people's 
hearts,  but  that  he  meant  to  assist  them  not  by 


Leopold  n. 


427 


Words  but  deeds.  In  truth,  the  invasion  he  in- 
tended was  the  very  worst  thing  for  poor  Louis 
%nd  Marie  Antoinette,  for  it  only  made  the  people 


LEOPOLD    H. 


more  furious  with  them,  thinking  them  guilty  of 
brinefingr  in  foreign  enemies  to  crush  the  freedom 
newly  won.     Knowing  this,  the  King  and  Queen 


428         Young  Folks'  History  of  Ciermany, 

tried  to  escape,  but  were  seized  and  brought  back 
again,  amid  hooting  and  all  kinds  of  ill-usage. 

Moreover,  Leopold  found  it  less  easy  to  begin  a 
t\-ar  with  the  French  than  he  had  expected.  The 
English  would  not  take  up  arms,  and  his  ministers 
said  that  he  would  only  lose  tlie  Netherlands, 
which  the  French  coveted  above  all  things,  and 
that  to  be  friends  with  them  would  make  them 
treat  liis  sister  better.  So  he  acknowledged  their 
new  constitution,  and  let  their  Ambassodor  at 
Vienna  set  up  his  tri-colored  flag. 

But  there  was  no  use  in  trying  to  make  peace, 
for  the  French  looked  on  all  monarchs  as  mere 
wolves,  and  besides,  they  wanted  to  have  the  emi- 
grants driven  from  Germany,  and  to  seize  the 
Netherlands.  So  war  was  decided  on,  but  just  be- 
fore it  began  Leopold  fell  ill,  and  died  in  his  45th 
year,  in  February,  1792.  His  Empress,  Marie 
Louisa  of  Spain,  died  of  grief  three  months  later. 
Like  his  mother,  he  had  a  family  of  sixteen  chil 
dren,  of  whom  ail  but  two  lived  to  grow  up.  The 
second  son,  the  Archduke  Karl,  became  a  great 
general.  Leopold  had  tried  to  hold  things  together, 
but  everything  in  Germany  was  in  a  rotten  state, 
and  he  was  happy  in  dying  before  the  troubles 
came  to  a  head. 


CHAPTER  XLV. 

FRAXZ  II., 1792. 

1  r'RANZ  II.  succeeded  his  father  just  as  the  war 
■*•  had  begun,  and  the  Prussians,  under  Fer- 
dinand, Duke  of  Brunswick,  and  accompanied  by 
the  King  himself,  were  crossing  the  Rliine,  accom- 
panied by  a  hirge  force  of  French  emigrants,  who 
burned  to  rescue  their  King  and  Queen.  Several 
places  were  taken,  but  instead  of  pushing  on  at 
once,  before  Paris  was  prepared,  the  Duke  of 
Brunswick  put  forth  a  proclamation,  calling  on  the 
French  to  return  to  their  duty,  and  threatening  not 
to  leave  one  stone  of  Paris  on  another  if  a  luiir  on 
the  head  of  any  of  the  royal  family  was  touched. 

This  put  the  whole  French  nation  in  a  fury ;  they 

flocked  to  join  the  army,  and,  ill-fed  and  half-trained 

though   they    were,   they   beat   the    Prussians   at 

Valmy,  and  drove  them  beyond  the  Rhine,  and  at 

429 


430         Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

the  same  time  the  Paris  mob,  iu  their  fright  and 
anger,  massacred  all  the  royalists  in  the  prisons  for 
fear  they  shotlld  join  their  friends  outside. 

The  Austrian  army  had  likewise  entered  France, 
but  was  entirely  defeated  at  Jemappes,  and  had  to 
retreat  before  the  French.  The  Netherlands,  where 
Austrian  rule  was  hated,  immediately  rose  and 
made  themselves  into  a  Republic,  under  the  pro- 
tection of  France,  and  at  Paris  the  captive  king 
was  put  to  trial  as  a  traitor  who  had  called  in  the 
foreign  enemy,  and  was  executed. 

All  Europe  was  indignant,  and  the  French  de- 
clared war  on  all  the  states  at  once,  with  a  fierce 
energy  that  was  too  much  for  the  old-fashioned 
habits  of  the  Germans  and  Austrians,  who  were 
beaten  again  and  again.  Franz  himself  joined  the 
army  in  the  Netherlands,  and  for  a  time  gained  the 
advantage,  but  was  beaten  by  General  Pichegru  at 
Tournay,  and  was  again  defeated  at  Fleurus ;  so 
that  he  had  to  fall  back  while  the  French  entered 
Holland,  and  moulded  the  Republic  to  their  own 
fashion. 

Prussia  was  called  off  from  the  war  by  a  great 
rising  in  its  ill-gotton  possession,  Poland  led  on  by 
a  gallant  noble  named  Kosciusko,  who  hoped  to 
win  freedom  for  his  country.     Friedrich  Wilhelm 


Franz  II.  431 

was  obliged  to  call  on  Russia  to  help  him  to  put 
down  the  revolt,  and  the  three  robbers,  Prussia, 
Austria,  and  Russia,  quarrelled  over  the  plunder, 
so  that  Prussia  would  no  longer  hold  to  the  alliance 
with  Austria,  but  made  a  seperate  peace  with 
France  in  1795. 

Then  the  French  army,  under  Bonaparte,  crossed 
the  Alps,  and  attacked  the  Austrian  power  in  Italy, 
where  they  gained  wonderful  successes.  The  Arch- 
duke Karl  was  fighting  gallantly  with  the  other 
French  troops  in  Germany,  but  the  quick  move- 
ments of  the  young  generals  were  a  great  deal  too 
perplexing  to  the  old  German  soldiers,  who  were 
used  to  go  by  the  old  rules  of  100  years  ago,  and 
the  French  drove  them  t)ack  everywhere.  The 
army  of  Italy  was  driving  the  Austrians  back  into 
their  own  country,  though  on  every  height  in  the 
Tyrol  stood  the  brave  chamois  hunters,  marking 
the  invaders  down  with  their  guns ;  but  there  was 
no  stopping  Bonaparte,  and  he  came  out  on  the 
northern  slope,  so  that  Vienna  felt  how  wise  Maria 
Theresa  had  been  in  not  letting  the  fortifications  be 
taken  do^vn  The  Emperor  sent  liis  little  children 
away  into  Hungary,  and  the  city  made  ready  for  a 
siege. 

But  the  army  on  the  Rhine  could  not  fight  ^ts 


432        Toung  Folks'  SiHtory  of  Germany. 

way  across  to  join  Bonaparte's  army,  and  he  could 
get  no  more  men  without  going  himself  to  France, 
so  he  took  upon  himself  to  make  peace,  and  a  treaty 
was  made  at  Campo  Formio,  b}^  Avliich  Austria 
gave  up  the  Netherlands  and  the  North  of  Italy, 
and  was  to  have  in  return  the  old  city  of  Venice, 
which  the  French  seized  in  time  of  peace,  and  made 
over  to  Franz.  He  was  not  ashamed  to  accept  it 
though  it  had  never  belonged  to  Austria,  not  even 
to  the  German  Empire. 

There  was  a  little  calm  in  Europe  while  Bona- 
parte went  off  on  his  expedition  to  Egypt.  During 
this  tune  Friedrich  Wilhelm  II.  of  Prussia  died, 
in  1797,  having  apent  all  the  treasure  his  two 
predecessors  had  laid  up,  and  leaving  his  country 
in  a  much  worse  state  than  that  in  ^^•hieh  he  had 
received  it.  His  successor,  Friedrich  Wilhelm  HI., 
was  personally  a  much  better  man,  and  had  a  most 
excellent  wife,  Louise  of  Mecklenburg-Strelitz,  but 
he  was  a  weak  man,  and  let  his  father's  old  ministry 
go  on  with  the  same  mean  and  shabby  policy  as 
before. 

The  French  kept  few  of  their  promises  in  the 
treaty,  and  the  Austrians,  thinking  their  best  troops 
and  most  terrible  captain  would  be  lost  in  Egypt, 
believed  that  this  would  be  the  time  to  win  back 


Tram  IL  433 

U'hat  had  been  lost  to  them,  and  again  joined  Eng- 
land and  Russia  in  dechiring  war  upon  France. 
Tlie  Russian  army  came  througli  Austria  into  Italy, 
and  nearly  conquered  back  Lombardy  and  Tuscany, 
but  the  Czar  declared  that  everybody  should  have 
their  own  again,  and  Franz  did  not  choose  t« 
give  up  Venice,  besides  which  they  were  always 
ready  to  dispute  about  Poland.  However,  the 
Archduke  Karl  was  successful  on  the  Rhine,  and 
things  went  hopefully  till  Bonaparte  suddenly 
came  home  fi-om  Eg}-pt,  hurried  to  Italy,  and  in 
the  great  battle  of  ^Marengo  so  entirely  beat  the 
Austrian  General  INIelas  that  the  French  gained 
back  all  they  had  lost. 

In  Germany  the  Archduke  Johann  was  trying  1  o 
defend  Bavaria  against  the  French,  under  Moreau, 
and  on  the  1st  of  December,  1800,  gained  a  little 
advantage  over  liini  when  between  the  Rivers  Inn 
and  Iser.  Setting  out  in  the  middle  of  the  night, 
Johann  marched  through  the  forest  of  HohenHnden, 
in  the  midst  of  a  heavy  snowstorm,  hoping  to  sur- 
prise the  French  in  their  camp;  but  the  enemy 
were  up  and  elert,  and  there  was  a  dreadful  battle, 
fought  in  the  midst  of  such  thick  snow  that  the 
boidiers  could  not  see  one  another,  only  the  flaslj 


434         Young  Folks'  History  of  Grermany. 

of  the  muskets  on  either  side,  and  7000  fell  on  each 
side. 

"Few,  few  shall  part,  where  many  meet  ! 
Tlie  snow  shall  be  their  winding-sheet. 
And  every  turf  beneath  their  feet 
Shall  be  a  soldier's  sepulchre.,, 

Hohenlinden  ended  in  the  utter  defeat  of  the  Arch> 
duke,  and  Franz  was  again  forced  to  make  peace, 
at  Luneville,  giving  up  to  France  all  the  lands  be- 
yond the  Rhine,  and  acknowledging  the  Republics 
that  had  been  formed  out  of  the  states  of  the  Em- 
pire and  its  own  lands.  The  princes  who  tL'v  lost 
their  lands  received  j)roperty  and  cities  that  Uis-l  'lo 
be  free  in  Germany.  Forty-eight  cities  were  thu;:> 
stripped  of  their  freedom,  and  only  Lubeck,  Ham- 
burg, Bremen,  Frankfurt,  and  Nuremberg  remained 
free. 

In  these  evil  times  there  were  greater  men  in 
Germany  in  literature  than  at  any  other  time  The 
ablest  j)oet  of  them  all  was  Goethe,  who  lived  at 
the  little  town  of  Weimar,  admired  by  the  Duke, 
and  maldng  a  world  of  poetry  for  himself,  in  which 
he  was  so  wrapped  up  that  he  cared  notliing  at  all 
for  the  changes  and  misfortunes  of  his  countryc 


CHAPTER    XLVI. 

FRAXZ  II.,  . 1804-1806. 

A  FTER  the  peace  or  Luneville,  Napoleon  Bona- 
-*-  ^  parte  made  liimself  Emperor  of  the  French, 
and  Franz  II.  congratulated  him;  but  it  was  not 
long  possible  to  avoid  war  with  such  a  neighbor. 
The  Emperor  was  very  much  affronted  by  all  the 
North  of  Italy,  which  had  been  made  into  little  Re- 
publics under  French  protection,  being  attached  to 
the  new  Empire,  as  if  it  had  belonged  to  France. 
Moreover,  because  Hanover  belonged  to  George  III. 
of  England,  with  whom  France  was  at  war,  it  was 
seized  by  French  troops,  but  the  German  princes 
were  some  of  them  afraid  of  Napoleon,  some  daz- 
zled by  his  glory,  and  it  was  not  easy  to  move  them 
against  him.  When  Franz  resolved  to  renew  the 
war,  and  called  the  princes  together,  the  Prussians 
were  bribed  by  Napoleon  by  being  allowed  a  shar§ 
435 


436         Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

of  Hiinover,  and  the  Elector  of  Bavaria  desired 
leave  to  wait  till  his  son,  who  was  traveling  in 
France,  should  be  safe  out  of  the  enemy's  country. 
Franz  was  angered  at  this,  and  sent  General  Mack- 
to  occupy  Bavaria ;  and  the  Duke  of  Wurtemburg 
and  Markgraf  of  Baden,  who  were  alread}^  ad- 
mirers of  Napoleon,  were  so  angered  at  this  step 
that  they  likewise  went  over  to  the  French  interest. 
Napoleon  hurried  into  Bavaria  with  his  troops  so 
suddenly  that  Mack,  who  was  a  dull  heavy  man, 
was  quiet  stupefied,  and  let  himself  be  cut  off  from 
Vienna  and  shut  into  Ulra,  Avhere  he  soon  yielded 
to  the  enemy,  with  his  army  of  30,000  men. 

By  this  time  the  Czar  Alexander  of  Russia  was 
coming  to  the  help  of  Austria.  Franz  went  to 
Presburg  to  meet  him,  and  left  Vienna  undefended, 
so  that  it  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  French,  and 
Napoleon  lodged  in  Maria  Theresa's  palace  at 
Schonbrunn. 

The  Austrians  and  Russians,  however  were 
marcliing  on  him,  and  at  Austerlitz,  on  the  2nd  of 
December,  1805,  there  was  a  great  battle,  in  which 
they  were  so  totally  defeated  that  Franz  lost  heart, 
and  though  his  brothers  M' ere  coming  up  with  large 
armies,  and  the  Russians  would  not  have  deserted 
him,  he  made  another  peace  with  France  at  Pres- 


I 


Franz  11,  439 

burg,  gi^'ing  up  Venice  to  the  new  kingdom  of 
Italy,  and  Ids  own  faithful  dukedom  of  the  Tyrol 
to  Bavaria,  while  the  Elector  of  Bavaria  and  Duke 
of  Wurtemburg  were  made  independent  kings,  and 
Cleves  and  Berg  were  made  into  a  Grand  Duchy 
for  Napoleon's  brother-in-law,  General  Joachim 
Murat. 

The  German  princes  were  persuaded  to  form 
themselves  into  what  was  called  the  Confederation 
of  the  Rhine,  with  the  Kings  of  Bavaria  and  Wur- 
temburg at  its  head,  and  the  French  Empire  for 
their  so-called  protector,  detaching  themselves  en- 
tirely from  the  great  old  Holy  Roman  Empire, 
which  reckoned  back  through  Karl  the  Great  to 
Caesar  Augustus.  Tlie  old  Germanic  League,  with 
its  Electoral  college  and  its  Diets,  and  the  Kaisar 
at  the  head  of  all,  was  entirely  broken  up,  and 
Franz  II.  resigned  its  crown  on  the  6th  of  August, 
1806.  He  still  remained  King  of  Hungary  and  Bo- 
hemia and  Archduke  of  Austria,  and  it  would  have 
been  in  better  taste  so  to  have  called  himself ;  but 
he  would  not  give  up  the  title  of  Emperor,  though 
that  really  meant  the  commander  of  princes,  and  so 
he  termed  himself  Hereditary  Emperor  of  Austria. 

Prussia  was  much  disturbed  at  the  Germanic 
Confederation,   and    Napoleon    wanted   to    break 


440        Young  Folks'  History  of  Crermany. 

down  the  power  of  that  little  soldierly  Idngdom,  so 
though  it  had  been  neutral  during  the  war,  he 
picked  a  quarrel  with  it  by  threathening  to  give 
Hanover  back  to  the  King  of  England,  and  by 
most  unworthy  slanders  of  the  Queen  of  Prussia, 
Louise  of  Mecklenburg.  She  was  a  good  and 
lovely  woman,  and  everybody  loved  her,  but  she 
was  known  to  have  been  much  grieved  at  the  un- 
manly way  in  wliich  her  country  had  stood  still  all 
this  time,  and  therefore  he  hated  and  maligned  her. 
If  she  had  been  able  to  stir  up  her  husband  before 
the  battle  of  Austerlitz,  it  might  have  been  of  some 
use,  but  it  was  too  late  when,  in  1806,  he  called  on 
Napoleon  to  remove  liis  armies  from  Germany. 
The  country  was  so  delighted  that  the  joung  men 
sharpened  their  swords  on  the  steps  at  the  door  of 
the  French  ambassador  at  Berlin.  The  Russian 
Emperor  Alexander  came  to  promise  his  support, 
and  joined  hands  with  the  Queen  at  midnight  over 
the  tomb  of  Friedrich  the  Great  to  confirm  the 
alliance,  then  went  back  to  send  the  aid  he 
promised.  Prussia  would  have  done  wisely  t(j  wait 
for  it,  but  the  whole  nation  rose  eagerly  in  arms, 
and,  uniting  with  Saxony  and  Hesse,  raised  an 
army  of  150,000  men,  who  were  placed  under  the 
Duke  of  Brunswick,  now  seventy-two  years  of  age. 


Franz  II.  441 

They  had  risen  too  late  to  act  with  Austria,  too 
soon  to  act  \vith  Russia,  and  Napoleon  was  upon 
them  at  once,  meeting  them  in  Saxony,  where  he 
forced  the  passage  of  the  Saale,  killing  the  brave 
young  Prince  Lud^^-ig  of  Prussia,  the  King's  brother, 
on  the  bridge. 

On  the  14th  of  October,  1806,  a  dreadful  battle 
was  fought  at  Jena,  where  the  Prussians  were 
ill-commanded,  and  their  valor  only  led  to  the 
slaughter  of  large  numbers.  Poor  Queen  Louise 
was  in  her  carriage  within  sound  of  the  guns,  and 
had  to  drive  away  without  knowing  her  husband's 
fate.  He  was  safe,  but  the  Duke  of  Bruns^'ick 
was  mortally  wounded,  and  20,000  men  lay  dead  on 
the  field.  General  Blucher  ^vith  the  survivors, 
roamed  about  for  three  weeks  and  fought  a  sharp 
battle  at  Lubeck,  but  had  to  surrender. 

The  King  and  Queen  fled  to  Konigsberg,  while 
the  French  entered  BerUn,  and  Napoleon  sent  oft 
all  the  rehcs  of  the  great  Friedrich  as  trophies  to 
Paris.  August  III.  of  Saxony  joined  the  Germanic 
Confederation,  and  was  forgiven,  but  Napoleon 
punished  the  others  who  had  daied  to  stand  out 
against  liim  with  brutal  harshness.  He  would  not 
let  the  wounded  old  Duke  of  Brunswick  lie  down 
to  die  in  peace,  but  said  he  might  go  to  England, 


442         Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

and  hunted  him  as  far  as  Altona,  where  he  died. 
In  memory  of  him  his  son  raised  a  regiment 
entirely  dressed  in  mourning,  with  a  skull  and  cross- 
bones  as  their  badge,  and  these  Black  Brunswick- 
ers  made  it  their  business  to  fight  wherever  the 
French  could  be  attacked. 

The  French  were  going  to  push  on  into  PoUsh 
Prussia,  when  Alexander  of  Russia  came  down 
with  his  arm}^  and  fought  two  terrible  battles  at 
Eylau  and  Friedland,  in  which,  though  he  was 
scarcely  worsted,  he  was  forced  to  retreat  and 
Konigsburg  was  left  open  to  the  enemy,  so  that 
Friedrich  Wilhelm  and  Louise  had  to  retreat  to 
Memel. 


CHAPTER   XLYII. 

FRENCH      CONQUESTS. 
IXTERREGXTM 1807-1815. 

A  FTER  the  two  doubfiil  battles,  Russia  desert- 
-^  ^  ed  the  cause  of  Prussia.  Alexander  and 
Napoleon  made  peace  at  Tilsit,  and  sent  for  the  King 
of  Prussia  to  hear  what  they  would  leave  to  him. 
The  Queen  came  with  him,  hoping  to  obtain  better 
terms,  but  Napoleon  treated  her  with  rude  scorn, 
and  said  that  he  had  been  like  waxed  cloth  to  rain. 
Once,  when  he  offered  her  a  rose,  she  said,  ''  Yes, 
but  with  ^lagdeburg.''  "  It  is  I  who  give,  you  who 
take,"  said  Bonaparte  roughly.  He  took  away  from 
Prussia  all  the  lands  on  the  Elbe  and  the  Rhine, 
and  these,  with  Bruns^vick,  Hesse,  Cassel,  and  part 
of  Hanover,  were  made  into  a  new  kingdom  of 
Westphalia  for  his  brother  Jerome.  Polish  Prussia 
443 


444         Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

was  given  to  the  King  of  Saxony,  Dantzic  made 
a  free  town,  and  only  Prussia  itself  left  to  the 
King  on  condition  that  he  should  only  keep  an 
army  of  42,000  men.  The  Queen  pined  away  under 
grief  and  shame  for  her  country's  loss,  and  died 
two  years  later,  leaving  her  people's  hearts  bm-ning 
against  tlie  French  tyranny,  and  longing  to  tlurow 
oif  the  3'oke.  Though  allowed  to  keep  only  such 
a  small  army  on  foot,  it  was  made  a  means  of  train- 
ing the  whole  nation  to  arms,  for  every  man  in  turn 
served  in  it  for  a  certain  time,  and  then  returned 
to  his  home  while  liis  place  was  taken  by  another. 
The  Emperor  Franz  took  up  arms  agam  in  1809, 
sending  his  brother  Karl  to  invade  Bavaria ;  but 
tJiis  war  turned  out  worse  than  ever  for  Austria. 
Karl  was  beaten  at  Eckmuhl ;  and  though  he  won 
the  victory  of  Aspern,  he  was  driven  across  the 
Danube,  and  had  another  defeat  at  Wagram,  so 
close  to  Vienna  that  the  battle  was  watched  from 
the  walls.  Again  peace  had  to  be  made,  and  all 
the  southern  parts  of  the  Austrian  dominions  had  to 
be  given  up,  while,  greatest  humiliation  of  all, 
Franz  actually  was  forced  to  give  liis  young 
daughter  Marie  Louise  to  be  the  wife  of  this  Cor- 
sican  soldier,  though  he  was  married  to  Josephine 
de  la  Pagerie,  whom  he  divorced. 


Interregnum.  447 

The  Tyrol  had  been  yielded  to  Bavaria,  but  the 
brave  peasants,  who  were  mostly  farmers  and 
huntsmen,  rose  on  behalf  of  their  Emperor,  under 
an  inn-keeper  named  Andreas  Hofer,  who  led  them 
most  gallantly  against  the  French  and  Bavarian 
troops,  till  an  overwhelming  force  was  sent  against 
them,  and  they  were  crushed.  Hofer  was  made 
prisoner,  and  shot  at  Mantua. 

Germany  had  fallen  to  the  very  lowest  point,  and 
the  French  proved  most  rude  and  harsh  masters. 
Any  sign  of  disaffection  was  punished  by  death, 
and  the  young  men  were  called  away  from  their 
homes  to  serve  in  the  Grand  Army  wliich  Napo- 
leon was  raising  1  o  invade  Russia ;  but  all  the  time 
there  was  a  preparation  going  on  for  shaking  them- 
selves free,  and  all  over  the  German  states  men 
belonged  to  the  Tugendbund,  or  bond  of  virtue, 
which  was  secretly  vowed  to  free  the  land  once 
more.  Napoleon  marched  through  Prussia,  on  his 
expedition  to  Moscow,  in  the  summer  of  1812.  In 
the  winter  the  miserable  remnant  of  his  Grand 
Army  came  straggling  back,  broken,  starved,  and 
wretched  ;  and  though  for  very  pity  the  Prussians 
housed  and  fed  them,  it  was  with  the  glad  certainty 
that  the  time  of  freedom  was  come.  The  Emperor 
Alexander  followed  with  his  victorious  army,  and 


■148         Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

Friedrich  Wilhelm  met  him  at  Breslau,  shedding 
tears  of  joy.  "  Courage,  brother,  these  are  the  last 
tears  Napoleon  shall  draw  from  you." 

Gebhard  Blucher  was  the  chief  Prussian  general. 
He  was  nicknamed  Marshal  Forwards,  because 
that  was  always  his  cry,  and  Napoleon  said  he  was 
like  a  bull  rushing  on  danger  with  his  eyes  shut. 
All  North  Germany  rose  except  the  King  of  Sax- 
ony, who  remained  faitliful  to  the  alliance  with 
France.  Germans,  Swedes,  and  Prussians  together 
fought  a  battle  at  Liitzen  with  the  French,  round 
the  stone  wliich  marked  where  Gustaf  Adolf  had 
fallen,  but  neither  this  nor  the  ensuing  battle  of 
Bautzen  ended  well  for  them,  and  the  poor  cit}^  of 
Hamburg  was  horribly  maltreated  by  the  Frencli 
General  Davoust. 

The  Emperor  of  Austria  sent  his  minister', 
Clemens  Metternich,  to  tell  Napoleon  that  he  must 
join  the  rest  of  Germany  against  him.  Napoleo  a 
was  so  angry  that  he  asked  what  England  had  paid 
Austria  for  deserting  him.  Metternich  scorned  to 
answer,  and  they  walked  up  and  down  the  room  on 
opposite  sides  for  some  time  in  silence.  However, 
Franz  sent  his  troops,  under  Prince  Schwartzen- 
berg,  to  join  the  other  allies,  and  there  was  a  battle 


Interregnum.  451 

at  Leipsic,  lasting  three  days,  from  the  16th  to  the 
18th  October,  1813,  in  which,  after  terrible  slaugh- 
ter, the  Allies  gained  a  complete  victory.  The 
rest  of  Germany  rose  and  expelled  the  French,  and 
the  Allies  were  able  the  next  winter  to  push  on 
into  France  itself  — the  Prussians,  with  Blucher, 
over  the  Rhine  ;  the  Austrians,  under  Swartzen- 
berg,  through  Switzerland.  They  were  beaten 
singly  in  many  battles,  but  the  Swedes,  Russians, 
and  English  were  all  advancing  on  dijfferent  sides, 
and  even  Napoleon  could  not  make  head  against 
five  nations  at  once. 

So  they  closed  in  on  Paris,  in  April,  1814,  and 
the  Emperors  of  Russia  and  Austria  and  the  King 
of  Prussia  all  met  there,  and  encamped  their  troops 
in  the  Champs  Elysees  and  on  the  Boulevards. 
They  saw  Louis  XVIII.  placed  on  the  throne  by 
the  French,  and  then  made  a  visit  to  England, 
where  Blucher  was  received  with  such  enthusiasm 
that  people  pulled  hairs  out  of  his  horse's  tail  as 
relics. 

Napoleon  was  exiled  to  Elba,  and  a  Congress 
met  at  Vienna  to  consider  how  the  boundaries  of 
the  European  states  should  be  restored,  after  the 
great  overthrow  of  them  all ;  but  in  the  midst  of 


452        Young  Folks'  History  of  G-ermany. 

the  consultations  came  the  tidings  that  the  prisoner 
had  escaped,  that  the  French  army  had  welcomed 
him,  and  that  Louis  the  XVIII.  had  again  fled. 
Again  the  armies  were  mustered  to  march  upon 
him,  but  only  the  Prussian  was  ready  to  join  with 
the  English  in  the  Netherlands,  where  in  June  a 
succession  of  battles  was  fought,  ending  in  the 
crowning  victory  of  Waterloo  on  the  18th  of  June. 
Again  the  Allies  occupied  Paris,  and  Napoleon  be- 
came a  prisoner  in  the  distant  Atlantic  island 
where  he  died.  His  wife,  Marie  Louise,  had  re- 
turned to  her  father  with  her  little  son,  who  died 
ill  early  youth  at  Vienna.  The  Congress  returned 
to  its  task  at  Vienna.  The  German  Empire  was 
not  restored,  and  Electors  and  Imperial  chambers 
Avere  no  more.  There  was  only  a  great  confedera- 
tion of  thirty-nine  states,  including  the  empire  of 
Austria,  the  kingdoms  of  Prussia,  Saxony,  Hanover, 
aud  Wurtemburg,  with  Grand  Duchies  and  princi- 
palities, and  four  free  towns,  Lubeck,  Bremen, 
Hamburg,  and  Frankfort.  They  were  not  to  make 
war  on  each  other,  nor  with  other  nations,  without 
each  other's  consent,  and  the  Emperor  was  their 
president.  Austria,  however,  only  belonged  to  it 
for  her  German  lands,  not  for  the  Italian  states 


Interregnum. 


455 


which  were  given  to  her,  though  she  gave  up  the 
Netherlands  to  be  joined  with  Holland  in  one 
kingdom.  The  fortresses  of  Luxemburg,  Mainz, 
and  Landau  were  to  belong  to  the  whole  Confeder- 
ation, and  be  garrisoned  by  their  troops. 


T 


CHAPTER    XLVIIL 

rSTTERREGlSrUM., 1815-1835. 

HERE  was  a  time  of  rest  after  the  twenty-five 
years  of  war,  while  the  world  recovered 
from  the  ruin  it  had  caused;  but  the  Congress  of 
Vienna  had  so  left  matters  that  there  was  sure  to 
be  another  disturbance  soon.  Prince  Matternich, 
who  managed  everytliing  for  Franz  II.,  kept  all 
down  with  a  firm  hand,  and  nothing  was  so  much 
shunned  and  dreaded  by  kings  and  their  ministers 
as  giving  an}''  power  to  the  people. 

Franz  was  a  weak,  dull  man  himself,  kindly  in  liis 
ways  to  those,  about  liim,  and  his  own  Austrians, 
among  whom  he  walked  about  in  an  easy,  friendly 
way,  loved  him ;  but  in  Italy  there  was  great  dislike 
to  the  Austrian  power.  The  officers  and  soldiers 
who  were  quartered  in  the  Italian  cities  were  rough 
and  insolent,  and  there  were  secret  societies  formed 

456 


Interregnum.  ^7 

among  the  Italians  for  shaking  off  the  yoke  and 
freeing  themselves.  The  men  of  tliis  society 
were  called  Carbonari ;  but  the  time  was  not  ripe 
for  their  plans  —  they  were  put  down,  and  Franz 
kept  the  chief  of  them  for  many  years  in  solitary 
confinement.  Two  of  them  Silvio  Pellico  and 
Alexandre  Andryanc,  have  written  interesting  his- 
tories of  their  imprisonment. 

Franz  died  in  1835,  and  his  son  Ferdinand  FV.  was 
still  more  weak  and  dull,  but  Metternich  still  man- 
aged everything.  Hanover  was  disjoined  from 
England  in  1837,  as  the  succession  was  in  the  male 
line,  and  it  was  inherited  on  the  death  of  William 
IV.  by  his  brother  Ernst  August.  In  Prussia, 
Friedrich  Wilhelm  III.  was  succeeded  in  1840  by 
his  son  fourth  of  the  name,  a  good  man,  anxious  to 
do  right,  but  timid  and  weak,  and  rather  confused 
between  his  notions  of  z.  king's  power  and  his  good- 
will to  his  subjects.  All  tliis  time  the  Germans 
were  improving  much  in  the  learning,  the  art,  the 
/nanufactures,  and  all  that  had  been  hindered  be- 
fore by  the  constant  wars  in  which  they  lived. 
The  northern  Germans  had  the  chief  thinkers  and 
writers ;  the  southern  had  the  greatest  taste  in  art. 
King  Ludwig  I.  of  Bavaria  set  himself  to  encourage 
architects,  sculptors,  and  painters,  and   made  his 


458        Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

city  of  Munich  a  wonderful  place  for  beauty  of  aU 
sorts,  with  splendid  galleries  of  Pictures,  ancient 
and  modern.  But  he  was  a  pleasure-loving  man, 
who  could  not  make  himself  respected,  and  in  his 
old  age  he  fell  under  the  influence  of  a  bad  woman 
named  Lola  Montes,  and  his  vice  and  folly  shocked 
his  people  so  much  that  he  had  to  resign  in  favor 
of  his  son  Maximilian.  Prince  Metternich  had 
always  hoped  to  hold  tilings  together  as  long  as  he 
lived  in  the  old  manner,  and  he  used  to  say,  "  After 
me  the  deluge."  But  the  deluge  he  meant  came  in 
his  time. 

When  Pope  Pius  IX.  began  to  reign  at  Rome,  in 
1846,  he  showed  a  wish  to  give  more  freedom  to 
the  people,  and  this  filled  all  Italy  with  hope,  and 
caused  plans  to  be  made  for  throwing  over  their 
harsh  masters.  There  was  a  revolution  in  France 
in  1847,  when  King  Louis  Philippe  was  driven 
away,  and  the  Germans  began  likewise  to  rise, 
especially  the  young  students,  whose  heads  were 
full  of  schemes  of  free  government.  Vienna  was  not 
safe  for  the  Emperor  or  his  minister.  Ferdinand 
went  to  Innspruck,  in  his  faithful  Tyrol,  and 
Metternich  fled  to  England.  In  Berlin  there  was 
a  great  rising,  and  some  fights  between  the  people 


Interregnum.  459 

and  the  soldiers,  till  the  King  promised  to  grant 
the  changes  in  the  government  that  were  wanted. 

The  German  states  all  wanted  to  be  one,  and  act 
together  again,  and  send  representatives  to  hold  a 
great  meeting  at  Frankfort  to  try  to  arrange  some 
general  plan.  They  chose  the  Archduke  Johann  of 
Austria  to  be  the  head  of  a  new  government  which 
was  to  take  them  all  in,  but  the  plan  turned  out 
too  clumsy  to  work,  and  there  was  nothing  but 
confusion,  while  tilings  were  still  worse  in  the 
Austrian  •  dominions.  Vienna  was  in  an  uproar, 
which  the  Emperor  could  not  put  down,  and  the 
Hungarians  had  risen,  declaring  that  they  had  been 
unfairly  treated,  and  wanted  their  rights.  The 
wife  of  the  Austrian  governor.  Princess  Pauliue 
Windischgratz,  daughter  of  the  general  Schwartz- 
enberg,  was  standing  at  a  window  above  the  street 
at  Pesth  when  she  was  shot  dead,  and  Count  Lom- 
burg  was  murdered.  The  chief  Hungarian  leader, 
who  was  named  Kossuth,  demanded  that  the  Mag- 
yars, the  old  name  by  wliich  his  people  called 
themselves,  should  be  made  free  of  all  German 
power;  he  seized  the  capital  and  St.  Stephen's 
crown,  and  when  the  Austrian  troops  were  ordered 
to  march  against  him,  a  nmnber  of  the  soldiers 
refused  to  leave  Vienna  or  march  against  patriots. 


460        Young  Folks'  History  of  Grermany, 

Some  of  the  troops  remained  faithful,  but  many 
young  students  joined  the  mutineers,  and  there 
was  a  great  fight,  in  which  the  loyal  troops  were 
beaten,  and  then  a  number  of  men  rushed  upon 
the  minister  who  had  given  orders  to  march  into 
Hungary,  and  killed  him.  The  Emperor,  whose 
health  was  weak,  and  whose  hand  was  not  strong 
enough  to  rule  in  such  times,  went  to  liis  palace  at 
Almutz,  grieved  and  overwhelmed  at  such  treat- 
ment from  the  Viennese,  among  whom  he  had  been 
wont  to  walk  about  without  any  state,  and  to  talk 
on  the  most  kindly  terms,  like  all  his  forefathers 
since  Maria  Theresa,  meeting  every  one  freely  on 
the  Prader,  the  beautiful  public  garden  of  Vienna. 

The  rebels  shut  themselves  up  in  Vienna,  and 
made  ready  for  a  siege,  but  the  main  body  of  the 
Austrians,  and  especially  the  Tyrolese,  were  still 
loyal,  and  troops  came  in  numbers  to  Ferdinand's 
aid.  After  five  days  of  much  fighting  and  blood- 
shed the  city  was  surrendered.  Some  of  the  rebel 
leaders  fled ;  the  others  were  taken  and  shot.  Then 
Ferdinand,  feeling  quite  unequal  to  reign  in  such 
stormy  times,  _  called  together  a  family  council  of 
his  brothers  and  uncles,  and  ended  by  giving  up 
his  crowns  to   his  nephew,   Franz  Joseph,  u  fine 


Interregnum.  461 

young  man  of  eighteen,  on  the  1st  of  December, 
1848. 

In  the  meantime  the  Germans  at  Frankfort 
wanted  to  have  a  real  emperor  again,  and  begged 
Friedrich  Wilhehn  of  Prussia  to  accept  the  Im- 
perial crown,  and  call  himself  Kaisar  der  Deuts- 
chern,  or  of  the  Germans ;  but  after  considering  the 
matter,  he  decided  that  they  were  not  giving  him 
power  enough  to  be  of  any  use,  and  that  it  was 
wiser  not  to  be  only  a  name  and  shadow,  so  he 
refused,  and  all  their  schemes  came  to  notliing. 
There  were  disturbances  in  Bavaria,  Saxony,  and 
Baden,  but  the  Prussians  helped  to  put  them  down, 
and  North  Germany  was  at  peace  again  by  the  July 
of  1848. 


CHAPTER   XLIX. 

INTERREGNUM, 1848. 

^  I  ^HE  young    Emperor,    Franz    Joseph,    had   a 
-■-      great  deal  on  his  hands,  but  ere  long  Austria 
and  all  his  German  states  had  returned  to  obedi- 
ence. 

In  Italy  the  Avhole  country  had  risen.  The 
Austrian  Marshal  Radetsky  had  been  driven  out  of 
Milan,  and  Colonel  Marinovitch  had  been  murdered 
at  Venice ;  the  Duke  of  Modena  had  fled,  the  Pope 
and  the  Romans  were  on  the  Liberal  party,  and 
the  King  of  Sardinia,  Carlo  Alberto,  had  declared 
war  against  Austria,  and  invited  all  the  other  states 
to  join  under  him  to  turn  the  foreigners  out  of 
Italy.  But  they  did  not  trust  him,  and  were  afraid 
of  his  getting  too  much  power  over  them.  Besides, 
the  Italians  talked  much  better  than  they  fought, 
and   Carlo  Alberto  was  not  much  of  a  general,  so 

462 


Interregnum.  463 

Radetsky  beat  him  at  Custoza,  came  into  Milan 
again,  and  then  of  course  his  troops  were  harsher 
than  ever  towards  the  Italians  who  had  risen  against 
them. 

The  .Pope  Pius  IX.,  was  afraid  of  fighting  with 
the  Austrians,  and  the  Romans  were  so  furious  at 
his  trying  to  draw  back  that  they  murdered  his 
minister,  Count  Rossi,  and  this  so  much  terrified 
the  Pope  that  he  disguised  himself  like  a  priest, 
and  fled  away  on  the  box  of  a  carriage  to  Gaeta, 
while  the  Romans  set  up  a  Republic.  But  none  of 
the  Italians  could  stand  against  the  well-trained 
Austrian  armies;  so  Radetsky  defeated  Carlo 
Alberto  again  at  Novara,  crushing  his  spirit  so 
completely  that  he  gave  up  liis  crown  to  his  son 
Victor  Emanuel,  and  died  four  months  later  of  a 
broken  heart.  Then  Radetsky  laid  siege  to  Venice, 
which  "held  out  bravely  for  four  months,  but  it  was 
taken  at  last,  and  the  French  at  the  same  time 
restored  the  Papal  government  at  Rome,  so  that 
Italy  was  very  nearly  in  its  former  state  ;  but  there 
was  more  and  more  distrust  on  the  Austrian  side, 
and  hatred  on  the  Italian. 

In  the  meantime  the  Hungarians  had  declared 
themselves  independent  of  Austria,  elected  a  Diet, 
and  put  Kossuth  at  the  head.     Franz  Joseph  could 


464         Young  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

not  subdue  them,  and  asked  the  help  of  the  Em- 
peror Nicholas  of  Russia.  The  united  Austrian 
and  Russian  armies  defeated  the  Magyars,  and  put 
down  the  insurrection.  The  leaders  escaped  to 
Turkey,  and  Kossuth  came  to  England,  and  after- 
wards went  to  live  in  America. 

Still  things  in  Germany  were  not  in  a  state  that 
could  last,  and  there  was  much  restlessness  every- 
where. In  1859  the  Italians,  having  learned  a 
lesson  by  their  former  failure,  united  again,  and 
this  time  under  the  King  of  Sardinia,  with  the  help 
of  Napoleon  III.,  Emperor  of  the  French.  The 
Austrian  forces  were  beaten  at  Magenta,  and  then 
at  Solferino;  but  afterwards  Franz  Joseph  met 
Napoleon  at  Villa  Franca,  and  persuaded  him  to 
forsake  Victor  Emanuel,  and  favor  the  setting  up 
of  a  Confederation  of  all  the  little  Italian  states, 
instead  of  making  them  one  strong  kingdom ;  but 
the  Sardinian  king  would  not  consent  to  this,  and 
the  people  of  the  Tuscan  and  Lombardy  dukedoms 
insisted  on  being  made  part  of  his  kingdom.  So 
they  were  given  to  him,  and  all  Lombardy  as  far  as 
the  Mincio,  but  only  on  condition  that  he  should 
give  up  to  the  French  his  own  old  dukedom  of 
Savoy.     Seven  years  later,  in  1866,  Venice  turned 


Intcrrcjnum.  465 

out  the  Austriaiis,  who  had  so  unjustl}'  been  phiced 
there  by  the  first  Napoleon,  and  a  war  began  for 
freedom. 

But  Franz  Josepli  liad  another  war  on  his  hands 
by  that  time.  The  gentle  undecided  Friedrich 
Wilhelm  III.  of  Prussia  died  in  1861,  and  was 
succeeded  by  liis  brother  Wilhelm  I.,  whose  prime 
minister  was  Otto  von  Bismarck,  an  exceedingly 
able  man,  and  one  who  had  no  feeling  against  war, 
but  said  that  '•  blood  and  iron  "  was  the  only  cure 
for  all  the  difficulties  of  German3\  His  first  war 
was  about  the  German  duchies  of  Holstein  and 
Lauenburg,  which  had  belonged  to  the  Kings  of 
Denmark  just  as  Hanover  did  to  the  Kings  of  Eng- 
land, and  on  the  death  of  the  last  of  the  male  line 
of  Denmark,  the  Germans  declared  that  they  ought 
not  to  pass  to  the  new  King  Christian  IX.,  who 
inherited  in  the  female  line.  The  Danes  on  the 
other  hand  said  that  these  two  duchies  were  one 
with  Schleswig,  and  could  not  be  divided,  and 
there  was  a  sharp  war,  all  the  Germans,  Austrians 
and  all,  joining  in  it.  Prussia  was  much  too  strong 
for  Denmark,  and  no  one  would  help  the  poor  little 
kingdom,  and  the  King  was  obliged  to  give  up  to 
Prussia  and  Austria  all  the  three  duchies  of  Schles- 


466         Yoiaij  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 

Avig,  Ilolsteiii  and  Lauenbiirg,  though  the  Danes 
were  burning  with  anger  and  grief.  Then  came  a 
dispute  bctAveen  Prussia  and  Austria,  and  Wilhelm 
made  an  alliance  with  Victor  Emanuel,  and  prom- 
ised to  go  on  fighting  in  Germany  until  Austria 
should  be  forced  to  give  up  Venice. 

Next  Count  Bismarck  proposed  that  Prussia 
should  have  the  North  German  states,  and  Austria 
the  South,  and  that  there  should  be  an  Assembly 
elected  by  all  the  people  to  settle  the  affairs  of  the 
Fatherland,  as  all  Germans  love  to  call  their 
country.  This  came  to  notliing,  and  the  two  great 
PoAvers  prepared  for  a  great  fight  as  to  which  should 
be  the  real  head  of  Germany.  Saxony,  Hanover, 
llessc-Cassel,  and  Nassau,  though  northern  states, 
all  took  the  side  of  Austria,  and  sent  their  forces 
to  join  the  Austrian  army  in  Bohemia. 

Count  von  Moltke  Avas  placed  at  the  head  of 
the  Prussian  army,  and  at  once  sent  a  division  to 
seize  Hesse-Cassel  and  the  Elector  in  it.  Other 
troops  were  sent  to  seize  Saxony  and  Hanover. 
George  V.  of  Hanover  was  blind,  but  he  Avas  Avith 
his  army  at  Gottingen,  trjang  to  join  the  Bavarians, 
and  his  troops  gained  a  A'ictory  at  Langensalza,  but 
it  only  serA^ed  to  make  the  fall  of  Hanover  glorious, 


Iiitcrrcjnuiu.  4G7 

and  he  yielded  in  June,  1866.  Then  tlie  Prussians 
marched  into  Saxony,  and,  having  mastered  that 
country,  entered  Bohemia.  They  were  the  best 
armed  and  best  trained  soklicrs  in  Germany,  and 
their  neetUe-guns  carried  all  before  them.  The 
battle  of  Koniggrlitz,  on  the  2ud  of  July,  was  very 
hotly  contested,  and  was  for  a  long  time  doubtful, 
but  in  the  end  the  Austrians  Avere  forced  to  retreat, 
having  lost  double  as  many  men  as  the  Prussians. 
Victory  after  victory  followed,  and  then  peace  was 
made  at  Prague,  in  August,  by  which  Austria  gave 
up  her  claims  to  be  a  part  of  Germany,  and  to  have 
any  share  in  the  Confederation. 

Moreover,  Prussia  kept  as  her  own,  Hanover, 
Hesse-Cassel,  Nassau,  and  Frankfurt;  andtliough 
Bavaria,  Saxony,  Wiu-temburg,  and  Baden  still 
remained  as  sttites,  with  their  own  princes  over 
them,  they  are  under  tlie  power  of  Prussia,  with 
an  oblifjation  to  fifxht  luider  her  in  time  of  war. 
All  the  states  in  tlie  north  owned  Prussia  as  their 
head,  and  thougli  tliere  Avas  violence  and  injustice 
in  the  means  by  whicli  the  union  Avas  brought 
about,  it  is  good  for  the  people  not  to  have  so  large 
a  nmnber  of  very  small  courts,  each  witli  all  the 
expenses  of  a  separate  government,  and  some  really 


468 


Yoxmg  Folks'  History  of  Germany. 


depending  on  the  duties  on  liircd  liorses,  and,  what 
was  worse,  on  licences  to  gaming  houses,  to  which 
the  vicious  of  all  Europe  thronged.  It  is  an 
immense  benefit  that  those  at  Spa,  Baden,  and 
other  places  were  put  an  end  to. 


CHAPTER   L. 

wiLiir.or  I., irMd-i.-TT. 

THE  growth  of  Prus.si;i,  Avliich  liad  only  been 
a  kingdom  since  the  seventeentli  century, 
made  the  French  nation  jealous  and  all  Europe 
uneasy. 

In  the  meantime  there  had  been  a  long  course  of 
disturbances  in  Spain,  and  the  people  having  driven 
out  their  own  queen,  were  looking  for  a  new  royal 
family.  They  offered  their  crown  to  Leopold, 
Prince  of  HohenzoUeru,  a  cousin  of  the  King  of 
Prussia ;  but  as  soon  as  the  French  heard  of  the 
plan,  they  Avere  furious.  To  prevent  war,  Leopold 
at  once  gave  up  all  intention  of  being  King  of 
Gpaiii ;  but  this  would  not  satisfy  the  French,  who 
really  only  wanted  an  excuse  for  measuring  their 
strength  with  that  of  Prussia,  and  of  trying  once 
more  to  get  the  Rhine   for  their  frontier.     So  the 


470         Young  Folks    Illstorij  of  Germany. 

Frencli  ambassador  to  Prussia  met  King  Wilhelm 
in  tlie  public  promenade  at  Ems,  and  demanded  of 
him  a  pledge  that  imder  no  possible  circumstances 
should  Leopold  of  Hohenzollern  ever  accept  tlie 
crown  of  Spain.  Wilhelm  did  not  choose  to  an- 
swer a  request  so  made  in  such  a  place.  The 
French  declared  that  he  had  insulted  their  ambas- 
sador, and  war  Avas  at  once  declared.  All  Ger- 
many felt  that  the  real  cause  of  the  war  was  the 
desu'e  of  France  to  win  the  lands  up  to  the  Rhine  ; 
so  not  only  the  Prussians,  but  the  newly  overcome 
countries,  also  the  Bavarians  and  South  Germa.is, 
felt  the  matter  concerned  the  Fatherland,  and  took 
up  arms. 

From  one  end  to  the  other  of  Germany  was  sung 
the  song  of  "  the  Watch  on  the  Rhine,"  and  the 
young  men  went  forth  to  join  the  army,  with  the 
tears  and  farewells  of  their  families,  in  a  high 
spirit  of  devoting  themselves  for  their  country. 
The  figlit  began  on  the  borders  of  France,  Count 
Moltke  being  again  the  manager  of  the  army, 
thouHi  the  Kins;  was  at  its  head.  The  French  had 
actually  crossed  the  frontier,  under  their  Emperor 
liimself,  boasting  and  triumphing,  and  talking  of 
again  setting  up  their  eagles  at  Berlin,  and  making 
a  great  triumph  of  tlicir  first  little  success.     But 


Wllhelm  I.  471 

that  was  all ;  at  Weissenburg  and  at  Worth  they 
were  routed,  and  again  at  Saarbrucken,  and  the 
Crown  Prince  of  Prussia  marched  across  the 
Vosges  mountains,  leaving  part  of  the  army  to  be- 
siege Strasbm-g.  All  round  Metz,  the  city  where 
there  had  been  so  much  warfare  between  France 
and  Germany,  there  was  fierce  fighting,  but  al- 
ways the  Germans  gained,  until  they  had  shut  one 
great  French  army  into  IMetz.  Marshal  McMahon 
hastened  to  help  his  countrymen,  but  the  Germans 
met  him  in  the  vicinity  of  Sedan,  on  the  1st  of  Sep- 
tember, and  in  another  long  and  terrible  battle 
Kirg  William  gained  the  victory.  MacMahon  was 
severely  wounded,  and  Napoleon  III.  Avas  forced  to 
give  huuself  up  as  a  prisoner. 

Then  the  Crown  Prince  marched  on  to  lay  siege 
to  Paris,  wliile  liis  father  entered  Rheims.  The 
Government  which  the  French  had  set  up  declared 
that  they  would  not  part  with-a  foot  of  gi-ound,  and 
on  the  other  hand  the  Prussians  were  resolved  that 
Elsass  and  Lorraine  should  be  given  back  to  Ger- 
many, and  so  the  war  went  on.  Tlie  ride  tlie  Ger- 
mans observed  was  that  no  pei-son  wlio  did  not 
fight  should  be  injured,  and  that  of  coui-se  real  sol- 
diers should  be  treated  as  prisonei-s  of  win- ;  but  if 
the  people  of  the  country  shot  at  them,  that  tliey 


472         Young  Folks    Hlatory  of  Germany. 

must  be  treated  as  robbers  and  murderers ;  and  if 
a  German  Avere  attacked  in  a  village,  it  was  burnt, 
and  one  or  more  of  the  men  put  to  death.  On  the 
whole,  these  rules  Avere  observed  ;  and  though  there 
were  miseries  and  horrors,  they  were  not  so  bad  as 
in  former  wars. 

Strasburg  was  taken  first,  then  Metz,  and  the 
armies  which  were  raised  b}^  the  French  to  relieve 
Paris  were  betiten  before  tliey  could  come  up.  All 
Germany  was  full  of  enthusiasm  and  delight.  The 
South  Germans  Avished  to  be  one  again  with  the 
North  Germans,  and  King  Ludwig  II.  of  Bavaria 
proposed  to  the  other  princes  that  they  should 
choose  the  King  of  Prussia  to  be  German  Emperor. 
Wilhelm  was  before  Paris  at  the  time,  living  in 
Versailles,  the  most  splendid  palace  in  France,  and 
there  it  was  that  the  deputation  came  to  him  and 
offered  him  the  crown  of  the  Empire,  and  he  was 
proclaimed  in  the  hall  of  mirrors,  so  that  the  old 
times  of  proclaiming  an  Emperor  at  the  head  of  a 
victorious  army  seemed  to  have  come  back. 

The  next  day  the  Parisians  tried  to  sally  out,  but 
in  vain,  and  they  Avere  nearly  starved  out,  so  that 
they  made  up  their  minds  to  surrender.  On  the 
1st  of  March  a  small  portion  of  the  troops  entered 
the  city,  but  the  feelings  of  the  French  AAxre  spared 


Wilhelm  I. 


4T1 
(O 


hy  tlie  Emperor,  who  abstained  from  m.iking  a 
triumphal  entry.  A  treat}^  was  made  by  wliich 
France  had  to  pay  5,000,000,000  of  fi-aiics  towards 


WILHELM     I. 


the  expenses  of  the  war,  and  to  ghc  up  Elsass 
and  Lorraine  to  Germany.  Tlicse  phiccs  had  in- 
deed been  unjustly  gained,  but  they  had  belonged 


474        Young  Folks'  History  of  G-ermany. 

to  the  French  for  so  many  years  that  the  inhabit- 
ants much  disliked  the  change,  and  at  Strasburg 
the  French  tricolor  continued  for  more  than  a  year 
to  wave  on  the  top  of  the  spire  of  the  cathedral, 
because  no  one  who  could  climb  it  safely  would  go 
up  to  put  the  German  eagle  in  its  stead. 

The  first  diet  of  the  Empire  was  held  in  1871, 
and  the  constitute!?!?  was  settled ;  but  it  is  not  the 
same  with  the  old  Holy  Roman  Empu-e,  either  in 
power  or  size.  It  only  extends  over  the  German 
soil,  and  has  nothing  to  do  with  Italy;  and  the 
powers  of  each  of  the  kingdoms,  and  other  states 
that  belonged  to  it,  are  clearly  defined.  The  present 
Emperor  is  WUhelm,  son  to  the  Friedrich  Wilhelm 
III.  and  Louise,  who  suffered  so  much  from  Napo- 
leon I. ;  and  his  eldest  son,  the  Crown  Prince  of 
Prussia,  is  married  to  the  eldest  daughter  of  Queen 
Victoria , 


^^'A^ 


'*  ■  :«■.;■*•- 


^" 


^   ^'.--k 

^4-^ 


•t?- 


."^a. 


A     000  126  460 


